Feasibility, Experiences and Short-Term Outcomes on Challenging Behaviour and Well-Being of a Partially Online Music Intervention Pilot Study for Adults With Intellectual Disabilities.

BACKGROUND: During the COVID-19 pandemic we implemented a partially online music intervention to examine the feasibility, experiences and short-term outcomes on the challenging behaviour and well-being of adults with intellectual disabilities. METHOD: This mixed-methods study included 10 participants with mild or moderate intellectual disabilities who received 16 one-hour individual music sessions in 10 weeks, either face-to-face or online. Data on feasibility and experiences from participants and music workers were collected and analysed using inductive thematic analysis. Challenging behaviour and well-being were measured before and after intervention. RESULTS: Overall experiences were positive and concerned appreciation, positive feelings, musical abilities, attention span, relatedness and personalisation. Online experiences varied, but most participants preferred face-to-face over online sessions. After the intervention, challenging behaviour scores were better than before. CONCLUSIONS: Engaging in a partially online music intervention is feasible for people with intellectual disabilities and seems to improve challenging behaviour. Experiences are discussed and recommendations for future online sessions are provided.

Effects of combined postweaning social isolation and ketamine administration on schizophrenia-like behaviour in male Sprague Dawley rats.

The pathophysiology behind negative and cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia is not well understood, thus limiting the effectiveness of treatment on these symptoms. Developing reliable animal model of schizophrenia is vital to advance our understanding on the neurobiological basis of the disorder. Double hit is used to refer to the use of two schizophrenia inducing interventions viz ketamine exposure and social isolation. In this study we aim to investigate the robustness of double hit model of schizophrenia in inducing negative and cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia. On postnatal day (PND) 23, thirty-two male Sprague Dawley rats were randomly grouped into four equal groups as follows: group housed + saline (GH), group housed + ketamine (GHK), isolated + saline (SI), and isolated + ketamine (SIK). A single ketamine dose (16 mg/kg) was administered 3 times a week for four weeks. Isolated animals were housed singly throughout the study. The following behavioural tests were carried out: elevated plus maze, three chamber social interaction, resident intruder tests, and novel object recognition (NOR). The SIK group exhibited high anxiety levels, with increased ACTH, corticosterone and norepinephrine concentration when compared to the other groups. The SIK animals also presented with reduced social interaction and decreased oxytocin concentration. SIK rats were more aggressive towards a juvenile intruder but had low testosterone concentration. The SIK group or double hit model showed impaired visual learning and memory and increased expression of proinflammatory cytokines. This suggest that the double hit model is more robust in inducing negative and cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia than each treatment alone.

No Backstage: The Relentless Emotional Management of Acute Nursing Through the COVID-19 Pandemic.

AIM(S): To explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on nurse's well-being, experiences of delivering healthcare within acute settings and their emotional management. DESIGN: Sequential mixed methods. METHODS: February to July 2021 an online well-being survey was disseminated to nurses working in acute settings within one Scottish health board. In-depth interviews with a purposive sample of respondents were conducted. Survey data were analysed descriptively, and interview data using Framework analysis and emotional management as the theoretical framework. RESULTS: Well-being was poor overall. Infection control measures impeded interactions, with loss of connection between patients, families and nurses. Emotional work was extended in caring for patients and families when visits were forbidden or restricted. Disconnect between colleagues was intensely felt. On COVID and non-COVID wards, nurses were caring for patients with a significantly reduced workforce and often outside their clinical speciality. Nurses masked their own anxieties, fears, moral distress and exhaustion on the ward. Communal 'backstage' spaces, were reduced to enable more infection-control space but reduced opportunity for collegial support. Formal psychological intervention required access after shift, and/or nurses feared they could not contain their emotions afterwards. CONCLUSION: Working during the pandemic was emotionally and physically demanding for those in COVID a.nd non-COVID wards. Unintended consequences of infection control measures significantly extended nurses' emotional management, by caring for isolated patients and families but impeding opportunities to care for each other, compounding their emotions. IMPLICATIONS FOR THE PROFESSION: There is a need to value emotional work in nursing to better support mental well-being. IMPACT: We advance the nursing emotional management literature by addressing the gap of exploration in challenging conditions. The importance of emotional management on nurses' mental well-being has been overlooked but focusing on this in the next crisis could improve nurse's well-being. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: No patient or public contribution. REPORTING METHOD: GRAMMS.

Reliability, reproducibility, and feasibility of youth activity profile (YAP) questionnaire in Chilean children and adolescents.

This study aimed to evaluate the reliability, reproducibility, and feasibility of the Youth Activity Profile Questionnaire (YAP-SL) in the Chilean version (YAP-C) in a sample of children and adolescents. This cross-sectional study included 160 youth, 59 children (5-11 years old), and 101 adolescents (12-17 years old) from the city of Viña del Mar (Chile). The YAP-SL is a 15-item self-report instrument which was administered twice at an interval of 7 days apart. This questionnaire was designed to capture physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviour in youths in the last week, categorizing them into three domains: PA at school, PA out-of-school, and sedentary habits. Cronbach's α coefficients were calculated to evaluate the internal consistency (reliability), and the reproducibility was determined by test-retest and Kendall's tau b coefficients. Concerning the total YAP-C score, results indicated moderate-to-high reliability in the total sample (0.71), boys (0.76) and girls (0.66), as well as for children (0.73) and adolescents (0.70). The results also revealed variations in reliability and reproducibility across the three domains. In conclusion, the YAP-SL questionnaire presents moderate-to-high reliability in Chilean children and adolescents. However, the reliability and consistency of the YAP varied across the domains.

An extension of the theory of planned behaviour to predict exclusive breastfeeding among Australian mother-father dyads using structural equation modelling.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this paper was to examine the predictors of breastfeeding exclusivity at two time-points (6 and 26 weeks postpartum) using a dyadic mother-father extended model of the theory of planned behaviour. DESIGN/METHOD: A sample of 1139 first-time Australian mother-father dyads completed measures of each of the Theory of Planned Behaviour variables (intention, attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control) and additional psychosocial and behavioural predictors of breastfeeding, including problems with breastfeeding, psychological distress, childcare stress, partner support, and the frequency and time of first public breastfeed. Confirmatory factor analyses were used to determine the factor structures of the latent constructs to be included in the structural model. Structural equation modelling was used to model pathways between variables. RESULTS: Breastfeeding exclusivity at 6 weeks was significantly predicted by breastfeeding self-efficacy at 6 weeks, intention to exclusively breastfeed, and frequency of public breastfeeding over the month prior, whereas childcare stress, partner support, time of first public breastfeed, and fathers' variables (attitudes and subjective norms) had little influence. Self-efficacy mediated the relationship between mothers' attitudes, psychological distress, and breastfeeding problems with breastfeeding exclusivity at 6 weeks. Breastfeeding exclusivity at 26 weeks was significantly predicted by mothers' attitudes, self-efficacy, breastfeeding exclusivity at 6 weeks, and frequency of public breastfeeding in the month prior. CONCLUSIONS: The results highlight the importance of breastfeeding self-efficacy and confidence to breastfeed in public as crucial constructs in promoting long-term exclusive breastfeeding and provides support for an extended theory of planned behaviour model in predicting breastfeeding outcomes.

Analysing the behaviour change techniques in an effective food literacy program to inform future program design.

AIM: Food literacy programs aim to improve food related skills and knowledge and are selected Governments as a strategy to address dietary intakes at a community level. The purpose of this research is to identify behaviour change techniques in a food literacy program, which were assessed by the achievement of participant goals related to food literacy and dietary behaviour changes. METHODS: Consensus methods were applied to map behaviour change techniques to an adult food literacy program. A second phase investigation applied content analysis of participant process evaluation data (collected between 2016 and June 2021) to align target behaviours and behaviour change techniques. Chi-square and ANCOVA were used to assess the statistically significant demographic characteristics, food literacy, and dietary behaviour scores for participants who set goals and recorded changes. RESULTS: A total of 4697 program participants provided evaluation data from the 4-week food literacy program. Participants who set goals and made changes were statistically more likely to have higher food literacy factor scores (p < 0.001) and fruit serves (p = 0.004). Statistical analysis showed that participants were more likely to have set goals and recorded changes if they were female (p < 0.001), older (p < 0.001), higher education level (p < 0.001), had a higher socioeconomic status (p = 0.049), lived with children (p = 0.014), were born in Australia (p = 0.019), or did not identify as Indigenous (p < 0.001). The behaviour change technique mapping process identified nine techniques used weekly and a total of 22 techniques used over the entire 4 week program curriculum. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first Australian study to link the contribution of behaviour change techniques to food literacy and dietary behaviour change in an established effective food literacy program. Knowing the behaviour change techniques associated with effective programs will facilitate replication of effective interventions.

Attitudes and behaviour of elderly in cognisance of transport safety when navigating pedestrian facilities.

The number of accidents involving elderly pedestrians has been increasing from year to year, in spite of various road safety initiatives having been implemented. In line with Singapore's ageing population, this presents a worrying trend. This study aims to shed light on possible contributing factors via a human factors analysis. A preliminary investigation was first conducted at traffic junctions identified to have a greater occurrence of accidents involving elderly pedestrians and motorists. This preliminary investigation looked into the efficacy of infrastructure-oriented solutions in reducing the occurrence of such accidents. It was observed that infrastructure alone was inadequate in ensuring safety of elderly pedestrians. Next, a questionnaire was administered in order to gain information regarding traits, attitudes and behaviours pertinent to traffic safety. Subsequently, structural equation modelling was used to analyse the data via exploratory, confirmatory and path analysis. This was followed by an in-depth discussion which explored the relationship between the latent constructs of traits, attitudes and behaviours, as well as social demographic variables such as age, gender and education level. It was found that poor cognitive ability and poor attitudes towards transport safety were both positively correlated with unsafe behaviour; strong psychosocial beliefs were positively correlated with poor attitudes towards transport safety, but negatively correlated with unsafe behaviour. The study concludes with recommendations to improve traffic outcomes for the elderly.

Development of bacterial resistance in Germany from 2008 to 2022 - major culprit pathogens, antibacterial drugs, and prescribing practices.

Rising bacterial resistance is a global threat, causing rising financial burdens on healthcare systems and endangering effective treatment of bacterial infections. To ensure the efficacy of antibacterial drugs, it is essential to identify the most dangerous pathogens and vulnerable antibacterial drugs. Previous research by our group suggested irrational outpatient prescribing practices in Germany, supporting a growing bacterial resistance. This study analyses developments and characteristics for the ten most prescribed antibacterial drugs in Germany from 2008 to 2022. Conclusions are based on the development of bacterial resistance levels and an analysis of correlations between pathogens. We identified cefuroxime axetil, sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim and nitrofurantoin as the most problematic drugs. Particularly problematic pathogens include E. faecalis, E. faecium, K. pneumoniae, and P. mirabilis. Besides increasing bacterial resistance, they are characterised by a high proportion of significant positive correlations, indicating a high potential for mutually reinforcing resistance development. Alarmingly, most of the antibacterial drugs analysed showed a growing resistance to at least one of the analysed pathogens. In most cases, the best treatment option is threatened by increasing bacterial resistance. We also identified several differences between current bacterial resistance data and therapeutic guidelines. In aggregate, our findings support irrational prescribing behaviour and underscore the urgent need for improved prescribing practices to counter rising bacterial resistance in Germany. Moreover, therapeutic guidelines for bacterial infections, the "holy grail" of pharmacotherapy, must be updated more frequently.

Bringing the group back in: Social class and resistance in adolescent smoking.

Absolute prevalence of tobacco smoking has fallen in recent decades but inequalities by socioeconomic position (SEP) persist. Adolescence is a critical period for smoking initiation and habits formed during this period likely continue into adulthood. Explanations for inequalities in adolescent smoking have tended to focus on individualistic theories based on differentials in knowledge and psychology. These have been criticised for their blindness to processes of social stratification and social context that influence smoking behaviours. Based on previous social theories, we put forward, and test empirically, two potential structural explanations for inequalities in smoking, using nationally representative longitudinal cohort data on 6039 Irish young people aged 9-18 years. Descriptive analyses confirmed the adverse SEP gradient in smoking prevalence as well as SEP gradients in variables representing individual-level characteristics and structural-level explanations. Despite lower self-esteem being associated with a higher likelihood of smoking, there was no significant indirect pathway between SEP and smoking via self-esteem. Path analyses found that differentials in exposure to parental smoking and levels of oppositional values mediate the relationship between SEP and smoking. Our results favour structural and group-based explanations for inequalities, that is, the 'smoking exposure' and 'social resistance' models, over explanations based on individual psychology.

The Norwegian Counties Public Health Survey (NCPHS): a design study.

BACKGROUND: Effective public health initiatives should be founded on a comprehensive and robust understanding of health-related factors including societal and community contexts. The Norwegian Counties Public Health Survey (NCPHS) aims for insights into the adult population on topics relevant for planning public health practices at county and municipality levels. METHODS: The NCPHS includes a core questionnaire on public health-related topics and demographics, including indicators of socio-economy, with additional optional questions and scales varying across data collections. Samples are drawn from the Norwegian National Population Register and 'washed' against the Common Contact Register to retrieve digital contact information and exclude those who cannot be contacted electronically. NCPHS was piloted in 2015 and 2018 (four counties). After some revision of instruments and sampling procedures, surveys have been carried out in most Norwegian counties since 2019. The total number of participants has now passed 400,000. RESULTS: Expedient data analysis has enabled the Norwegian Institute of Public Health to present comprehensive reports within 6 weeks of completed data collections. In these, outcome variables are analysed against district (within counties), gender, age, educational attainment and self-reported sufficiency of household income. Tables are also made available at the municipality level. CONCLUSIONS: The NCPHS represents a valuable addition to existing data sources, providing critical information for planning purposes for local and regional public health authorities, for assessing trends over time, comparisons across counties and regions and for evaluation of policies and interventions. The value of such a system during times of crisis was demonstrated during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Attractiveness versus stickiness: Behavioural preferences of Drosophila melanogaster with competing visual stimuli.

In nature, animals often encounter various competing stimuli and must make choices among them. Although the behaviour under two identical stimuli has been extensively studied for fruit flies, Drosophila melanogaster, how the appeal of one stimulus for the animals is influenced by the appeal of the other is not fully understood. In the present study, we systematically investigated this equation using a modified Buridan's paradigm. We focused on the behaviour of fruit flies under asymmetric visual stimuli, i.e., two black stripes of different widths. We characterized two behaviour modes: (1) Attractiveness: moving toward a stripe in the inner area of the platform, and (2) Stickiness: staying around the edge near a stripe. Our results reveal that while Attractiveness of a stripe is primarily influenced by its own width and remains relatively independent of the opposite stripe, Stickiness is significantly affected by the width of the competing stripe. These findings suggest that the behavioural response of fruit flies to visual stimuli involves complex decision-making processes influenced by both intrinsic and extrinsic factors. This study provides new insights into the cognitive and sensory mechanisms underlying visual preference behaviour in Drosophila and highlights the importance of considering multiple stimuli in behavioural assays.

Health-seeking behaviour of breast cancer patients receiving care at a tertiary institution in Ghana.

Background: Breast cancer incidence rates are rising in Africa and mortality is highest in West Africa. Reasons for poor survival are multifactorial but delays in seeking appropriate health care result in late presentation which contributes significantly to poor outcomes. Total delays of more than 3 months have been associated with advanced stage at presentation and poorer survival. Method: A cross-sectional design was used to assess delays in health-seeking behaviour in consecutive breast cancer patients receiving treatment at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) from January to December 2022 using a structured, interviewer-administered questionnaire. Data were gathered to assess health-seeking behaviour in relation to delays in a presentation to a health care facility, and factors that may have influenced the delays. Statistical analysis was done using descriptive and inferential analyses. Results: The study involved 636 participants with a mean age and SD of 52.6 ± 12 years. Most participants were diagnosed with Stage 3 or 4 breast cancer (56.5%). Ninety percent of participants had visited at least one health facility prior to seeking care at KBTH. Forty-two percent of the participants sought care at a health facility less than a month after noticing symptoms of breast cancer while 34.4% did so greater than 3 months after noticing symptoms. Delays showed a significant association with age, marital status, educational level, average monthly income and cancer stage (p < 0.05). Common reasons for delays were lack of knowledge of breast cancer signs and/or symptoms (47%), advice from family and friends (15%), financial difficulties (9%), seeking alternate treatments (7%), competing priorities (6%) and indifference (5%). Conclusion: Lack of knowledge about breast cancer was a major cause of delay in seeking health care in this study. Education should specifically target knowledge about breast cancer and the need for appropriate and timely health seeking.

The Effect of Temperature Variability on Biological Responses of Ectothermic Animals-A Meta-Analysis.

Climate change is altering temperature means and variation, and both need to be considered in predictions underpinning conservation. However, there is no consensus in the literature regarding the effects of temperature fluctuations on biological functions. Fluctuations may affect biological responses because of inequalities from non-linear responses, endocrine regulation or exposure to damaging temperatures. Here we establish the current state of knowledge of how temperature fluctuations impact biological responses within individuals and populations compared to constant temperatures with the same mean. We conducted a meta-analysis of 143 studies on ectothermic animals (1492 effect sizes, 118 species). In this study, 89% of effect sizes were derived from diel cycles, but there were no significant differences between diel cycles and shorter (<8 h) or longer (>48 h) cycles in their effect on biological responses. We show that temperature fluctuations have little effect overall on trait mean and variance. Nonetheless, temperature fluctuations can be stressful: fluctuations increased 'gene expression' in aquatic animals, which was driven mainly by increased hsp70. Fluctuating temperatures also decreased longevity, and increased amplitudes had negative effects on population responses in aquatic organisms. We conclude that mean temperatures and extreme events such as heat waves are important to consider, but regular (particularly diel) temperature fluctuations are less so.

Food and Health Literacy in Patients Awaiting Metabolic-Bariatric Surgery.

INTRODUCTION: Specialized lifestyle programmes for patients undergoing metabolic-bariatric surgery (MBS) are provided to facilitate adjustment and adherence to a healthy lifestyle after surgery. However, pre-programme food and health literacy in MBS patients is often unknown. In the general population, approximately three-quarters of people exhibit sufficient health literacy. This study aimed to examine food and health literacy of patients awaiting MBS and to identify patient-specific factors associated with these literacies. METHODS: Patients awaiting MBS completed questionnaires on food literacy (Self-Perceived Food Literacy scale) and health literacy (European Health Literacy Survey Questionnaire-16) at the start of a preoperative lifestyle programme. Linear and logistic regression analyses were used to identify associations between multiple variables and preoperative food and health literacy. RESULTS: Among 216 patients, the preoperative mean food literacy score was 3.49 ± 0.44, on a five-point scale. Furthermore, 96.3% of patients showed sufficient health literacy, with scores of 13 or more out of 16. Patients with sufficient health literacy had higher food literacy scores (ß 0.508; 95% CI: 0.208-0.809, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: This study among people living with obesity awaiting MBS suggests that food literacy is comparable, and health literacy is higher than in the general population. These findings emphasize the complexity of the aetiology of obesity due to factors that extend beyond food and health literacy.

FlightTrackAI: a robust convolutional neural network-based tool for tracking the flight behaviour of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes.

Monitoring the flight behaviour of mosquitoes is crucial for assessing their fitness levels and understanding their potential role in disease transmission. Existing methods for tracking mosquito flight behaviour are challenging to implement in laboratory environments, and they also struggle with identity tracking, particularly during occlusions. Here, we introduce FlightTrackAI, a robust convolutional neural network (CNN)-based tool for automatic mosquito flight tracking. FlightTrackAI employs CNN, a multi-object tracking algorithm, and interpolation to track flight behaviour. It automatically processes each video in the input folder without supervision and generates tracked videos with mosquito positions across the frames and trajectory graphs before and after interpolation. FlightTrackAI does not require a sophisticated setup to capture videos; it can perform excellently with videos recorded using standard laboratory cages. FlightTrackAI also offers filtering capabilities to eliminate short-lived objects such as reflections. Validation of FlightTrackAI demonstrated its excellent performance with an average accuracy of 99.9%. The percentage of correctly assigned identities after occlusions exceeded 91%. The data produced by FlightTrackAI can facilitate analysis of various flight-related behaviours, including flight distance and volume coverage during flights. This advancement can help to enhance our understanding of mosquito ecology and behaviour, thereby informing targeted strategies for vector control.

Life-history and genetic relationships in cooperatively breeding dwarf mongoose groups.

Cooperatively breeding societies show distinct interspecific variations in social and genetic organization. Long-term studies provide invaluable data to further our understanding of the evolution and maintenance of cooperative breeding but have also demonstrated how variation exists within species. Here we integrate life-history, behavioural and genetic data from a long-term study of dwarf mongooses Helogale parvula in South Africa to document mating, breeding, dispersal and relatedness patterns in this population and compare them to those found in a Tanzanian population at the other extreme of the species' range. Our genetic data reveal high levels of reproductive skew, above that expected through observational data. Dispersal was male-biased and was seen more frequently towards the onset of the breeding season, but females also regularly switched between groups. These patterns of breeding and dispersal resulted in a genetically structured population: individuals were more related to groupmates than outsiders, apart from the unrelated dominant pair, ultimately resulting in reduced inbreeding risk. Our results also demonstrate that dwarf mongooses are largely consistent in their social structure across their sub-Saharan distribution. This work demonstrates the direct and indirect pathways to reproductive success for dwarf mongooses and helps to explain the maintenance of cooperative breeding in the species.

The energy crisis differentially impacted Swiss and German citizens' energy literacy and efficiency preferences but not their support for climate policies.

The energy crisis reshaped energy politics, resulted in energy price surges, increased energy capacity, and large-scale energy-saving campaigns. While an energy demand reduction was observed in Europe, little is known about how the crisis impacted citizens' climate-relevant judgment and decisions. Here we report a preregistered two-wave cross-national study (N = 1040) spanning the winter of 2022/2023 to investigate how support for renewable energy policies, energy literacy, and energy-efficient product choices developed as this crisis unfolded. We couple longitudinal experimental data with real-world energy price data. This natural experiment indicates that energy-efficiency preferences were impacted by the salience of the crisis and real-world price signals. Changes in energy literacy were contingent on the numerical abilities of participants, suggesting that the crisis increased knowledge gaps between different groups in society. Support for renewable energy policies, and prioritization of key policy attributes, remained stable in Germany and Switzerland despite shifts in public attention and uncertainty.

Solvent-induced modulation of sensitivity and selectivity in the self-assembly of tetracationic cyclophanes with cholesterol sulphate, sodium dodecyl sulfate, and sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate: Observations of significant shifts.

Cyclophane CP-1 demonstrates markedly distinct sensitivities toward Cholesterol sulfate (CH-S), Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate (SDS), and Sodium Dodecyl Benzene Sulfonate (SDBS) when the solvent is shifted minimally from a 95 % to a 98 % HEPES-DMSO mixture. In a 98:2 HEPES-DMSO mixture, CP-1 engages in highly selective self-assembly with CH-S, which is characterized by aggregation-induced emission enhancement (AIEE) in contrast to other steroidal sulfates such as pregnenolone sulfate (PRG-S), dehydroisoandrosterone sulfate (DIAND-S), taurocholic acid (TACH-S), and the surfactants SDS and SDBS. This assembly results in an approximate 40-fold increase in fluorescence intensity with three equivalents of CH-S and allows for the detection of concentrations as low as 200 nM under physiological conditions. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) studies illustrate the aggregation of CP-1 and CH-S, with the zeta potential of each shifting from negative values to nearly zero in a 1:2 CP-1:CH-S mixture, indicating self-assembly. This aggregation behavior is reversible, as demonstrated by a corresponding decrease and then increase in fluorescence intensity with temperature variations from 25 °C to 70 °C and back to 25 °C. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) analyses show that CP-1 forms aggregates ranging from 100 to 180 nm, which increase to 150-250 nm upon interaction with CH-S. In a 95:5 HEPES-DMSO mixture, CP-1 exhibits a stronger AIEE response with SDS and SDBS compared to CH-S. Cyclophane CP-2, when dissolved in binary DMSO-water mixtures with water content exceeding 80 %, shows similar AIEE phenomena and undergoes selective fluorescence quenching with SDS and only a 50 % increase in fluorescence intensity with CH-S, irrespective of the HEPES concentration (95 % or 98 %).

Supporting traceability and biosecurity in the sheep and goat industries in NSW: understanding barriers to implementing electronic identification.

Efficient traceability is paramount for Australia's biosecurity system and market access. Electronic identification (eID) offers higher traceability performance than that achieved with visual and mob-based identification used for the sheep and goats National Livestock Identification System (NLIS). The current study aims to gain an understanding of the barriers and motivations of using eID for NLIS sheep and goats in New South Wales (NSW) and to provide recommendations to support the transition to eID. A social research study using a mixed-methods approach was used through semi-structured interviews and a cross-sectional epidemiological and behavioural study among sheep and goat producers. The COM-B behaviour change model based on capabilities, opportunities and motivations was used as a framework for the study. A total of 269 participants informed this study: 25 interviews were conducted with government, industry and private stakeholders, and 184 and 58 sheep and goat producers participated in the cross-sectional study, respectively. The study identified poor understanding of the purpose and importance of NLIS among producers, with over two-thirds not supporting eID implementation. The main barriers identified to the eID implementation were practical, including costs, technology quality and increased workload. Attitudinal, behavioural and knowledge barriers, such as the perception of the current system providing efficient traceability and the perceived lack of benefits of eID were also identified. This study provides an in-depth analysis of practices and perceptions of stakeholders and producers on sheep and goat traceability and recommendations to address barriers identified, based on education and appropriate behavioural and technical support.

Impaired head circumference growth and behavioural problems in childhood: Longitudinal findings from the MINA-Brazil birth cohort.

BACKGROUND: Previous evidence on the relation between early head circumference (HC) growth and behavioural outcomes in preschoolers has been inconsistent. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to investigate whether HC growth from birth to 5 years of age was related to internalising or externalising behavioural problems at 5 years of age in a sex-specific manner. METHODS: Among 303 girls and 318 boys from the MINA-Brazil birth cohort, we examined the associations between changes in HC from birth to 5 years of age and internalising and externalising behaviour problem scores at 5 years according to the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire for parents. HC values were transformed into sex- and age-specific z-scores (HCZ) using World Health Organisation standards, and the differences between values at 5 years of age and birth were classified into quintiles. We estimated adjusted mean differences with 95% confidence intervals in behavioural problem scores between HCZ change quintiles using multivariable linear regression by sex. To examine nonlinear associations, we included cubic spline terms. RESULTS: Head circumference growth from birth to 5 years of age was inversely and nonlinearly associated with internalising problems in girls. Compared with girls at the lowest quintile of HC growth, those above had an adjusted 1.27 (95% confidence interval 0.28, 2.27) points lower mean internalising problems score. This association was mostly driven by HC growth during the first 2 years. We found no association between HC growth and externalising behaviour in either sex. CONCLUSIONS: Impaired HC growth was related to higher mean internalising problem scores at 5 years of age in girls but not in boys. HC growth was not associated with externalising problems.