Medical assistance in dying (MAiD) (which includes euthanasia and assisted suicide) is available in an increasing number of countries. In Belgium, The Netherlands and Switzerland (and was due to be implemented in Canada from 2024) eligibility includes mental suffering in the absence of any physical disorder. There are particular ethical and legal issues when considering MAiD for those involuntarily detained in prisons and hospitals. We describe four recent cases that illustrate these complexities, and highlight issues of equivalence of healthcare and self-determination against concerns about the criteria for determining eligibility of those with non-terminal conditions as well as the objections raised by victims and families and the demands for justice.

The Minnesota Longitudinal Study of Risk and Adaptation (MLSRA) is a landmark prospective, longitudinal study of human development focused on a sample of mothers experiencing poverty and their firstborn children. Although the MLSRA pioneered a number of important topics in the area of social and emotional development, it began with the more specific goal of examining the antecedents of child maltreatment. From that foundation and for more than 40 years, the study has produced a significant body of research on the origins, sequelae, and measurement of childhood abuse and neglect. The principal objectives of this report are to document the early history of the MLSRA and its contributions to the study of child maltreatment and to review and summarize results from the recently updated childhood abuse and neglect coding of the cohort, with particular emphasis on findings related to adult adjustment. While doing so, we highlight key themes and contributions from Dr Dante Cicchetti’s body of research and developmental psychopathology perspective to the MLSRA, a project launched during his tenure as a graduate student at the University of Minnesota.

Intimate kissing is often viewed as a preliminary or ancillary behaviour in studies exploring sexual interactions. There is a lack of research that focuses on differentiating the types of intimate kisses, including the contexts in which they occur, and desirable and undesirable features. The current study was designed to assess memories of first, best, forbidden and worst kisses. Participants were 691 U.S. adults (mean age 32.27 years; 55% identified as male) who completed an online survey addressing kissing attitudes and experiences using both structured and open-ended survey tools. Four themes emerged through content analysis: physical components, connection to the partner, context, and emotions evoked; and these are discussed for all four types of kissing memories. Findings are discussed in terms of embodiment that intimate kisses capture, their role as a metric of one's attraction to a partner, and the means by which kissing experiences might solidify a sense of oneself as a sexual person.

We assessed whether paternal demographic, anthropometric and clinical factors influence the risk of an infant being born large-for-gestational-age (LGA). We examined the data on 3659 fathers of term offspring (including 662 LGA infants) born to primiparous women from Screening for Pregnancy Endpoints (SCOPE). LGA was defined as birth weight >90th centile as per INTERGROWTH 21st standards, with reference group being infants ⩽90th centile. Associations between paternal factors and likelihood of an LGA infant were examined using univariable and multivariable models. Men who fathered LGA babies were 180 g heavier at birth (P<0.001) and were more likely to have been born macrosomic (P<0.001) than those whose infants were not LGA. Fathers of LGA infants were 2.1 cm taller (P<0.001), 2.8 kg heavier (P<0.001) and had similar body mass index (BMI). In multivariable models, increasing paternal birth weight and height were independently associated with greater odds of having an LGA infant, irrespective of maternal factors. One unit increase in paternal BMI was associated with 2.9% greater odds of having an LGA boy but not girl; however, this association disappeared after adjustment for maternal BMI. There were no associations between paternal demographic factors or clinical history and infant LGA. In conclusion, fathers who were heavier at birth and were taller were more likely to have an LGA infant, but maternal BMI had a dominant influence on LGA.

Bohdanowiczite was first described in 1967 but incomplete data prevented its acceptance as a new mineral at that time. Additional data on the same material now characterize bohdanowiczite as a new species with the formula:

3[(Ag0.98Cu0.02)0.97(Bi0.97Pb0.03)1.02(Se0.83S0.17)2.01]

The mineral occurs in intimate intergrowths with clausthalite and wittichenite in polymetallic mineralization at Kletno in Poland. In reflected light bohdanowiczite has a creamy-yellow colour and short polysynthetic twinning is frequently observed. Cell parameters indexed on a hexagonal lattice are a = 4.183±0.008 Å and c = 19.561± 0.016 Å. P m1 is the most likely space group. The strongest lines of the powder pattern are 2.91(100), 2.03(30), 3.40(20), 6.54(20), 2.09(18), 3.26(18). The calculated density is 7.72 gm/cm3 and the VHN between 63 and 96 kg/mm2.

Empirical studies are incompatible with the proposal that neonatal imitation is arousal driven or declining with age. Nonhuman primate studies reveal a functioning brain mirror system from birth, developmental continuity in imitation and later sociability, and the malleability of neonatal imitation, shaped by the early environment. A narrow focus on arousal effects and reflexes may grossly underestimate neonatal capacities.

Previous research suggests that the experience of abuse and neglect in childhood has negative implications for physical health in adulthood. Using data from the Minnesota Longitudinal Study of Risk and Adaptation (N = 115), the present research examined the predictive significance of childhood physical abuse, sexual abuse, and physical/cognitive neglect for multilevel assessments of physical health at midlife (age 37–39 years), including biomarkers of cardiometabolic risk, self-reports of quality of health, and a number of health problems. Analyses revealed that childhood physical/cognitive neglect, but not physical or sexual abuse, predicted all three health outcomes in middle adulthood, even when controlling for demographic risk factors and adult health maintenance behaviors. We discuss possible explanations for the unique significance of neglect in this study and suggest future research that could clarify previous findings regarding the differential impact of different types of abuse and neglect on adult health.

In 2011, 14 Midwest trial locations evaluated tolerance of an AAD-1 and glyphosate-resistant corn hybrid to a 2,4-D choline+glyphosate premix formulation applied single and sequential POST at V4 and/or V7 corn with and without a PRE application of 2,4-D dimethylamine (DMA). Herbicides were applied at 1X and 2X maximum use rates with 1X rates of 1120 g ae ha−1 for glyphosate and 2,4-D DMA and 1065+1120 g ae ha−1 for the 2,4-D choline+glyphosate premix, respectively. Crop response was greatest 2 d after 2X rate applications, resulting in 4 to 10% visible injury to corn across application timings. No brace root injury or effect on corn grain yield were observed.

As survival after cardiac surgery continues to improve, an increasing number of patients with hypoplastic left heart syndrome are reaching school age and beyond, with growing recognition of the wide range of neurodevelopmental challenges many survivors face. Improvements in fetal detection rates, coupled with advances in fetal ultrasound and MRI imaging, are contributing to a growing body of evidence that abnormal brain architecture is in fact present before birth in hypoplastic left heart syndrome patients, rather than being solely attributable to postnatal factors. We present an overview of the contemporary data on neurodevelopmental outcomes in hypoplastic left heart syndrome, focussing on imaging techniques that are providing greater insight into the nature of disruptions to the fetal circulation, alterations in cerebral blood flow and substrate delivery, disordered brain development, and an increased potential for neurological injury. These susceptibilities are present before any intervention, and are almost certainly substantial contributors to adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes in later childhood. The task now is to determine which subgroups of patients with hypoplastic left heart syndrome are at particular risk of poor neurodevelopmental outcomes and how that risk might be modified. This will allow for more comprehensive counselling for carers, better-informed decision making before birth, and earlier, more tailored provision of neuroprotective strategies and developmental support in the postnatal period.

It is well established that pregnant women are at an increased risk of Plasmodium falciparum infection when compared to non-pregnant individuals and limited epidemiological data suggest Plasmodium vivax risk also increases with pregnancy. The risk of P. falciparum declines with successive pregnancies due to the acquisition of immunity to pregnancy-specific P. falciparum variants. However, despite similar declines in P. vivax risk with successive pregnancies, there is a paucity of evidence P. vivax-specific immunity. Cross-species immunity, as well as immunological and physiological changes that occur during pregnancy may influence the susceptibility to both P. vivax and P. falciparum. The period following delivery, the postpartum period, is relatively understudied and available epidemiological data suggests that it may also be a period of increased risk of infection to Plasmodium spp. Here we review the literature and directly compare and contrast the epidemiology, clinical pathogenesis and immunological features of P. vivax and P. falciparum in pregnancy, with a particular focus on studies performed in areas co-endemic for both species. Furthermore, we review the intriguing epidemiology literature of both P. falciparum and P. vivax postpartum and relate observations to the growing literature pertaining to malaria immunology in the postpartum period.

Background: Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a new treatment with promise for resistant depression.

Objective: We tested the economic feasibility of this new method compared with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).

Method: An economic decision analysis was used to compare the costs of three different treatment strategies for nonpsychotic severe depression. The strategies were: ECT alone; rTMS alone; and rTMS followed by ECT for nonresponders (rTMS-to-ECT). We calculated 12-month costs and quality adjusted life years (QALYs) for the three treatment options for all nonpsychotic, severely depressed United States patients who would have otherwise undergone ECT. A sensitivity analysis was performed to test the degree of change in outcome with various parameter changes.