There is considerable interest in the role of neuroimmune processes in neuropsychiatric presentations among young people seeking mental health, neurological, paediatric and rheumatological services. The increasing availability of new immunotherapies, particularly monoclonal antibodies, introduces challenges in effectively and appropriately selecting candidates for immunotherapies. Neuroimmune-mediated neuropsychiatric syndromes (NIMNPS) typically include two broad types: i) ‘autoimmune encephalitis’, characterised by acute or subacute onset, neurological signs such as seizures, delirium or motor features and severe psychotic or major mood phenomena. Anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor encephalitis was a pioneering clinical example, but various other autoantibodies have since been associated with this phenotype; and ii) atypical mood or psychotic syndromes with sub-acute or insidious onset, moderately severe atypical mood or psychotic symptoms, autonomic dysregulation, narcolepsy-like features, poor response to conventional treatments and adverse (notably motor) effects from psychotropic medications. Diagnosis of NIMNPS requires clinical or laboratory evidence of direct brain involvement, though autoantibodies are not always detectable. Given the broad and controversial diagnostic criteria for NIMNPS, we propose standardised clinical criteria for identifying ‘possible cases’, followed by laboratory, neuropsychological and brain imaging tests to confirm ‘probable’ cases suitable for immunotherapy. We emphasise rapid clinical and informed co-decision-making with young people and their families and loved ones. While immunotherapy holds promise for symptom alleviation, highly-personalised approaches and long-term management are essential. Future research should validate our proposed criteria, establish optimal, standardised yet personalised immunotherapy strategies that balance between clinical benefit and risks, and identify predictive markers of treatment response.

Metabolic and inflammatory dysfunction is prevalent in middle-aged people with major mood disorders, but less is known about young people. We investigated the trajectories of sensitive metabolic (Homeostatic Model Assessment for Insulin Resistance [HOMA2-IR]) and inflammatory markers (C-reactive protein [CRP]) in 155 young people (26.9 ± 5.6 years) accessing mental health services. We examined demographic and clinical correlates, longitudinal trajectories and relationships with specific illness subtypes. Additionally, we compared the HOMA2-IR with fasting blood glucose (FBG) for sensitivity. We observed a significant increase in HOMA2-IR and CRP over time with higher baseline levels predicting greater increases, although the rate of increase diminished in those with higher baseline levels. Body mass index predicted increases in HOMA2-IR (p < 0.001), but not CRP (p = 0.135). Multinomial logistic regression revealed that higher HOMA2-IR levels were associated with 2.3-fold increased odds of the “circadian-bipolar spectrum” subtype (p = 0.033), while higher CRP levels were associated with a reduced risk of the “neurodevelopmental psychosis” subtype (p = 0.033). Standard FBG measures were insensitive in detecting early metabolic dysregulation in young people with depression. The study supports the use of more sensitive markers of metabolic dysfunction to address the longitudinal relationships between immune-metabolic dysregulation and mood disorders in young people.

Faecal examinations for helminth eggs were performed on 1869 people from two riverside localities, Vientiane Municipality and Saravane Province, along the Mekong River, Laos. To obtain adult flukes, 42 people positive for small trematode eggs (Opisthorchis viverrini, heterophyid, or lecithodendriid eggs) were treated with a 20–30 mg kg−1 single dose of praziquantel and purged. Diarrhoeic stools were then collected from 36 people (18 in each area) and searched for helminth parasites using stereomicroscopes. Faecal examinations revealed positive rates for small trematode eggs of 53.3% and 70.8% (average 65.2%) in Vientiane and Saravane Province, respectively. Infections with O. viverrini and six species of intestinal flukes were found, namely, Haplorchis taichui, H. pumilio, H. yokogawai, Centrocestus caninus, Prosthodendrium molenkampi, and Phaneropsolus bonnei. The total number of flukes collected and the proportion of fluke species recovered were markedly different in the two localities; in Vientiane, 1041 O. viverrini (57.8 per person) and 615 others (34.2 per person), whereas in Saravane, 395 O. viverrini (21.9 per person) and 155207 others (8622.6 per person). Five people from Saravane harboured no O. viverrini but numerous heterophyid and/or lecithodendriid flukes. The results indicate that O. viverrini and several species of heterophyid and lecithodendriid flukes are endemic in these two riverside localities, and suggest that the intensity of infection and the relative proportion of fluke species vary by locality along the Mekong River basin.

Much attention in recent years has focused on the extent to which the risk of metabolic disturbances, and most fundamentally of glucose and insulin, are prevalent among those treated for depressive and other mood disorders (Osimo et al., 2021; Scott et al., 2019; Tickell et al., 2022). Public concern has also focused on the increased rates of premature mortality in those with chronic depression and other major mental disorders, with a significant proportion of that risk being due to early-onset cardiovascular disease (particularly among women). A common assumption is that much of this risk is a consequence of medical treatments for depression, and their possible adverse effects such as increased risk of diabetes, presumably mediated by long-term weight gain.

Antarctic and Southern Ocean environments are facing increasing pressure from multiple threats. The Antarctic Treaty System regularly looks to the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) for the provision of independent and objective advice based on the best available science to support decision-making, policy development and effective environmental management. The recently approved SCAR Scientific Research Programme Ant-ICON - ‘Integrated Science to Inform Antarctic and Southern Ocean Conservation‘ - facilitates and coordinates high-quality transdisciplinary research to inform the conservation and management of Antarctica, the Southern Ocean and the sub-Antarctic in the context of current and future impacts. The work of Ant-ICON focuses on three research themes examining 1) the current state and future projections of Antarctic systems, species and functions, 2) human impacts and sustainability and 3) socio-ecological approaches to Antarctic and Southern Ocean conservation, and one synthesis theme that seeks to facilitate the provision of timely scientific advice to support effective Antarctic conservation. Research outputs will address the most pressing environmental challenges facing Antarctica and offer high-quality science to policy and advisory bodies including the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting, the Committee for Environmental Protection and the Scientific Committee of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources.

ABSTRACT IMPACT: Understanding the women community leaders’ sense of relational and financial empowerment in the social entrepreneurship context will be key to developing a sustainable pathway to scale-up community-based HPV self-sampling programs in low resource settings. OBJECTIVES/GOALS: The Hope Project, a social entrepreneurship (SE) near Lima, Peru, trains women leaders (Hope Ladies) to promote human papillomavirus (HPV) self-sampling in their communities. This study aims to evaluate the Hope Ladies’ own relational/financial empowerment after participating in the program. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: The Hope Ladies participated in semi-structured in-depth interviews (n= 9) and 8-question 5-point Likert-scale survey (n=16) that evaluated their relational/financial empowerment after participating in the social entrepreneurship. The interview and the survey questions were developed using validated empowerment frameworks, indicators, and theory, respectively: 1) Kabeer’s conceptual framework, 2) International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), and 3) Relational Leadership Theory (RLT). Direct content analysis was used to deductively evaluate the interviews with predetermined codes and categories of empowerment. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the survey results. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: All reported experiencing empowerment in the SE. Interviews: The codes were mapped onto 3 categories/9 sub-categories: 1) voicing confidence (willingness to challenge social/gender norms); 2) social resources (new skills, knowledge, self-efficacy, access to networks, role models); 3) financial gains (helpful but not the primary motivation to continue as Hope Ladies, and not enough to override traditional household roles/priorities). Survey: 75% indicated an increase in social contacts, confidence in discussing reproductive topics (75%), comfort with medical facilities (44%), ability to help the community (62.5%), and ability to make household purchasing decisions (36%) since joining the program. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF FINDINGS: The Hope Ladies’ experience in this SE demonstrated the complex relationship between various domains of empowerment (e.g., relational/financial). More studies are needed to elucidate the relationship between empowerment and worker retention/performance to inform scale-up of HPV self-sampling SE’s.

Women's parties have a unique and important role to play in the representation of women and women's issues and interests. They are neither a new nor a rare phenomenon and have emerged in a variety of contexts across time and space. And yet we know relatively little about them. This article argues that women's parties matter and that the study of women's parties matters. We contend that women's parties constitute a discrete party family; while there is a diverse range of women's parties, they can be viewed as a coherent group with similar origins, ideology, and naming patterns. This article offers the first research framework for the comparative study of women's parties. Building our knowledge of women's parties, we argue, is important for those interested in gender and politics, particularly those concerned with the representation of women's issues and interests.

BACKGROUND: Meningiomas are the most common primary benign brain tumors in adults. Given the extended life expectancy of most meningiomas, consideration of quality of life (QOL) is important when selecting the optimal management strategy. There is currently a dearth of meningioma-specific QOL tools in the literature. OBJECTIVE: In this systematic review, we analyze the prevailing themes and propose toward building a meningioma-specific QOL assessment tool. METHODS: A systematic search was conducted, and only original studies based on adult patients were considered. QOL tools used in the various studies were analyzed for identification of prevailing themes in the qualitative analysis. The quality of the studies was also assessed. RESULTS: Sixteen articles met all inclusion criteria. Fifteen different QOL assessment tools assessed social and physical functioning, psychological, and emotional well-being. Patient perceptions and support networks had a major impact on QOL scores. Surgery negatively affected social functioning in younger patients, while radiation therapy had a variable impact. Any intervention appeared to have a greater negative impact on physical functioning compared to observation. CONCLUSION: Younger patients with meningiomas appear to be more vulnerable within social and physical functioning domains. All of these findings must be interpreted with great caution due to great clinical heterogeneity, limited generalizability, and risk of bias. For meningioma patients, the ideal QOL questionnaire would present outcomes that can be easily measured, presented, and compared across studies. Existing scales can be the foundation upon which a comprehensive, standard, and simple meningioma-specific survey can be prospectively developed and validated.

Millions of micro electro mechanical system sensors are fabricated each year using an ultra-clean process that allows for a vacuum-encapsulated cavity. These devices have a multi-layer structure that contains hidden layers with highly doped silicon, which makes common imaging techniques ineffective. Thus, examining device features post-fabrication, and testing, is a significant challenge. Here, we use a combination of micro- and nano-scale x-ray computed tomography to study device features and assess failure mechanisms in such devices without destroying the ultra-clean cavity. This provides a unique opportunity to examine surfaces and trace failure mechanisms to specific steps in the fabrication process.

Glacier surface mass-balance measurements on Greenland started more than a century ago, but no compilation exists of the observations from the ablation area of the ice sheet and local glaciers. Such data could be used in the evaluation of modelled surface mass balance, or to document changes in glacier melt independently from model output. Here, we present a comprehensive database of Greenland glacier surface mass-balance observations from the ablation area of the ice sheet and local glaciers. The database spans the 123 a from 1892 to 2015, contains a total of ~3000 measurements from 46 sites, and is openly accessible through the PROMICE web portal (http://www.promice.dk). For each measurement we provide X, Y and Z coordinates, starting and ending dates as well as quality flags. We give sources for each entry and for all metadata. Two thirds of the data were collected from grey literature and unpublished archive documents. Roughly 60% of the measurements were performed by the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS, previously GGU). The data cover all regions of Greenland except for the southernmost part of the east coast, but also emphasize the importance of long-term time series of which there are only two exceeding 20 a. We use the data to analyse uncertainties in point measurements of surface mass balance, as well as to estimate surface mass-balance profiles for most regions of Greenland.

Background: Deficiencies in design and reporting of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) limit their validity. The quality of recent RCTs in neurosurgery was analyzed to assess adequacy of design and reporting. Methods: A high-yield search of the MEDLINE and EMBASE databases (2000-present) was conducted. The CONSORT and Jadad scales were used to assess the quality of design/reporting. A PRECIS-based scale was used to designate studies on the pragmatic-explanatory continuum. Spearman’s test was used to assess correlations. Regression analysis was used to assess associations. Results: Sixty-one articles were identified. Vascular was the most common sub-specialty (37%). The median CONSORT and Jadad scores were 36 (IQR 27.5-39) and 3 (IQR 2-3). Blinding, sample size calculation and allocation concealment were most deficiently reported. The quality of reporting did not correlate with the study impact. The majority of studies (83%) had pragmatic objectives; while pragmatic studies had compatible design factors, trials with explanatory objectives were less successful. Conclusions: The prevalence and quality of neurosurgical RCTs is low. Many study designs are not compatible with stated objectives. Given the role of RCTs as one of the highest levels of evidence, it is critical to improve on their methodology and reporting. Alternative methodologies merit discussion.