Low energy availability (LEA) is a state in which the body lacks sufficient energy to support normal bodily functions required to maintain health1. While LEA is frequently associated with a plethora of cardiovascular abnormalities, supporting research is limited and largely comprised of studies that are small and preliminary in nature2. To date, there has been no comprehensive synthesis of the evidence regarding the cardiovascular implications of LEA in female athletes and our review aims to address this.

This review followed the Cochrane Collaboration PRISMA protocol3. Various online databases (PubMed, One Search, Web of Science, Google Scholar) and manual searches were used, with a cut-off publication date set at November 2023. Search keywords were devised using the PICO framework3. Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms were used in PubMed. Boolean logic was applied to filter relevant results. Eligibility criteria included physically active to elite-trained female athletes, LEA risk determination, and cardiovascular measures (including cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, biomarkers and/or non-invasive measures). Articles were screened, extracted, and quality assessed using the NIH Quality Assessment Tool. Three researchers were blinded to each other’s decisions to reduce potential biases and queries were resolved through reviewer discussion.

A total of nine studies were included. After evaluating the studies using the quality assessment tool, five studies were found to be moderate quality and four low-quality, due to factors including the inability to blind subjects or testers. The studies examined multiple cardiovascular health indicators and had mixed findings regarding the connection between LEA and potentially increased cardiovascular risks, aligning with previous research. Two studies suggested LEA leads to unfavourable blood lipid profiles which are known to lead to an increased risk of CVD4, while three others found no significant difference in blood lipids due to LEA. One study identified twenty detrimental associations between lipids and clinical markers of hormone imbalance, dyslipidemia, and altered body composition, which are characteristic issues of LEA. These associations reflect the underlying metabolic disruptions caused by LEA typically involved with cardiovascular issues. Regarding autonomic control, vascular function and morphology, two research studies showed no significant association in heart rate variability, brachial flow-mediated dilation, pulse wave velocity, carotid artery reactivity, carotid-intima media thickness, or biomarkers reflecting endothelial activation with LEA. Although one study indicated abnormalities in flow-mediated dilation among those with LEA. Additionally, one study determined female athletes with LEA were more than 2.5 times more likely to experience cardiovascular issues (e.g., arrhythmias, valvular heart disease, coronary artery disease, and cardiomyopathy) as determined by the preparticipation examination.

This review highlights LEA’s potential to elevate CV risks in female athletes. To validate these implications, further future larger-scale longitudinal studies with robust study designs are necessary to confirm the cardiovascular implications of LEA in female athletes.

In England, the dominant policy narrative recognises no association between spending on children’s services and quality and a limited association between quality and deprivation. We combined 374 inspection outcomes between 2011 and 2019 with data on preventative and safeguarding expenditure and Indices of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) scores. A multilevel logistic regression model predicting ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ judgements suggests each £100 increase in preventative spending per child was associated with a 69 per cent increase (95 per cent CI: 27.5 per cent, 124 per cent) in the odds of a positive inspection. A one-decile increase in deprivation was associated with a 16 per cent (95 per cent CI: −25 per cent, −5.7 per cent) decrease. Safeguarding expenditure was not associated with outcomes. Deprived communities have worse access to good-quality children’s services and government policies that have increased poverty and retrenched preventative services have likely exacerbated this inequality. Further, inattention to socioeconomic context in inspections raises concerns about their use in ‘take over’ policies.

To investigate the current epidemiology of melioidosis in Yangon, Myanmar, between June 2017 and May 2019 we conducted enhanced surveillance for melioidosis in four tertiary hospitals in Yangon, where the disease was first discovered in 1911. Oxidase-positive Gram-negative rods were obtained from the microbiology laboratories and further analysed at the Department of Medical Research. Analysis included culture on Ashdown agar, the three disc sensitivity test (gentamicin, colistin and co-amoxiclav), latex agglutination, API 20 NE, antibiotic susceptibility testing, and a subset underwent molecular confirmation with a Burkholderia pseudomallei specific assay. Twenty one of 364 isolates (5.7%) were confirmed as B. pseudomallei and were mostly susceptible to the antibiotics used in standard therapy for melioidosis. Ten patients were from Yangon Region, nine were from Ayeyarwaddy region, and one each was from Kayin and Rakhine States. A history of soil contact was given by seven patients, five had diabetes mellitus and one had renal insufficiency. The patients presented with septicaemia (12 cases), pneumonia (three cases), urinary tract infection (two cases) and wound infection (four cases). Eighteen patients survived to hospital discharge. This study highlights the likelihood that melioidosis may be far more common, but underdiagnosed, in more rural parts of Myanmar as in other countries in SE Asia.

The first demonstration of laser action in ruby was made in 1960 by T. H. Maiman of Hughes Research Laboratories, USA. Many laboratories worldwide began the search for lasers using different materials, operating at different wavelengths. In the UK, academia, industry and the central laboratories took up the challenge from the earliest days to develop these systems for a broad range of applications. This historical review looks at the contribution the UK has made to the advancement of the technology, the development of systems and components and their exploitation over the last 60 years.

Gravitational waves from coalescing neutron stars encode information about nuclear matter at extreme densities, inaccessible by laboratory experiments. The late inspiral is influenced by the presence of tides, which depend on the neutron star equation of state. Neutron star mergers are expected to often produce rapidly rotating remnant neutron stars that emit gravitational waves. These will provide clues to the extremely hot post-merger environment. This signature of nuclear matter in gravitational waves contains most information in the 2–4 kHz frequency band, which is outside of the most sensitive band of current detectors. We present the design concept and science case for a Neutron Star Extreme Matter Observatory (NEMO): a gravitational-wave interferometer optimised to study nuclear physics with merging neutron stars. The concept uses high-circulating laser power, quantum squeezing, and a detector topology specifically designed to achieve the high-frequency sensitivity necessary to probe nuclear matter using gravitational waves. Above 1 kHz, the proposed strain sensitivity is comparable to full third-generation detectors at a fraction of the cost. Such sensitivity changes expected event rates for detection of post-merger remnants from approximately one per few decades with two A+ detectors to a few per year and potentially allow for the first gravitational-wave observations of supernovae, isolated neutron stars, and other exotica.

Alluvial rubies and sapphires are found in palaeodrainage deposits along the Cudgegong-Macquarie River system, central eastern New South Wales, Australia. A pink to red suite contains Cr (up to 0.6 wt.% Cr2O3) as the main chromophore, exceeding Fe (up to 0.5 wt.%Fe2O3). Corrosive etching suggests a prior xenocrystic Mesozoic-Cenozoic basaltic transport, while Cr2O3/Ga2O3 to Fe2O3/TiO2 ratios indicate an original metamorphic source. Syngenetic mineral inclusions include Al-rich diopside, meionite and anatase. The Al-rich diopside (‘fassaite’) contains extremely high Al2O3 (20–21 wt.%). A blue-green suite contains Fe (up to 0.8 wt.% Fe2O3) as a dominant chromophore, while a rare nepheline-anorthoclase composite inclusion supports a magmatic phonolitic origin. The Cudgegong- Macquarie ruby formation is compared with a garnet granulite origin proposed for Thailand rubies and a xenolith of corundum-bearing garnet granulite from Ruby Hill, Bingara, Australia. Clinopyroxenecorundum thermometry suggests the Cudgegong-Macquarie rubies formed at T >1000–1300ºC, a high equilibration T for proposed lithospheric granulites. These rubies form a distinctive suite compared to other rubies from Australian and SE Asian basalt fields, but have some similarities with eastern Thailand rubies.

The Cosmology Distinction Course is a new one-year course to be introduced for Year 12 candidates in the 1994 Higher School Certificate examinations in NSW. It is one of three challenging courses of study that will enrich the HSC for talented students who accelerate and complete part of the HSC one year early. The courses will be taught through distance learning and will include residential seminars. They will be implemented on behalf of the Board of Studies by Charles Sturt University and the University of New England.

The Cosmology Course is organised into nine modules of course work covering historical and social aspects of cosmology, observational techniques, key observations and the various models developed—Newtonian, de Sitter, Friedmann, Lemaitre, steady-state, quasi-steady-state and big bang. Assessment will be through assignments, exams and a major project.

As the first Distinction Course in a scientific area, the Cosmology Course represents an exciting and important educational initiative that needs the cooperation of NSW astronomers and, in return, promises to benefit the astronomical and general scientific community in Australia.

Accurate and complete reporting of study methods, results and interpretation are essential components for any scientific process, allowing end-users to evaluate the internal and external validity of a study. When animals are used in research, excellence in reporting is expected as a matter of continued ethical acceptability of animal use in the sciences. Our primary objective was to assess completeness of reporting for a series of studies relevant to mitigation of pain in neonatal piglets undergoing routine management procedures. Our second objective was to illustrate how authors can report the items in the Reporting guidElines For randomized controLled trials for livEstoCk and food safety (REFLECT) statement using examples from the animal welfare science literature. A total of 52 studies from 40 articles were evaluated using a modified REFLECT statement. No single study reported all REFLECT checklist items. Seven studies reported specific objectives with testable hypotheses. Six studies identified primary or secondary outcomes. Randomization and blinding were considered to be partially reported in 21 and 18 studies, respectively. No studies reported the rationale for sample sizes. Several studies failed to report key design features such as units for measurement, means, standard deviations, standard errors for continuous outcomes or comparative characteristics for categorical outcomes expressed as either rates or proportions. In the discipline of animal welfare science, authors, reviewers and editors are encouraged to use available reporting guidelines to ensure that scientific methods and results are adequately described and free of misrepresentations and inaccuracies. Complete and accurate reporting increases the ability to apply the results of studies to the decision-making process and prevent wastage of financial and animal resources.

Influenza is rarely laboratory-confirmed and the outpatient influenza burden is rarely studied due to a lack of suitable data. We used the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) and surveillance data from Public Health England in a linear regression model to assess the number of persons consulting UK general practitioners (GP episodes) for respiratory illness, otitis media and antibiotic prescriptions attributable to influenza during 14 seasons, 1995–2009. In CPRD we ascertained influenza vaccination status in each season and risk status (conditions associated with severe influenza outcomes). Seasonal mean estimates of influenza-attributable GP episodes in the UK were 857 996 for respiratory disease including 68 777 for otitis media, with wide inter-seasonal variability. In an average season, 2·4%/0·5% of children aged <5 years and 1·3%/0·1% of seniors aged ⩾75 years had a GP episode for respiratory illness attributed to influenza A/B. Two-thirds of influenza-attributable GP episodes were estimated to result in prescription of antibiotics. These estimates are substantially greater than those derived from clinically reported influenza-like illness in surveillance programmes. Because health service costs of influenza are largely borne in general practice, these are important findings for cost-benefit assessment of influenza vaccination programmes.

Dietary polyphenols, such as those from grape products, may exert beneficial effects on cardiovascular health, including anti-hypertensive effects. We investigated the effect of a specific grape seed extract (GSE) rich in low-molecular-weight polyphenolic compounds on ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) in untreated subjects with pre- and stage I hypertension. In addition, potential mechanisms that could underlie the hypothesised effect of GSE on blood pressure (BP), and platelet aggregation, were explored. The study was designed as a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomised, parallel-group intervention study including seventy healthy subjects with systolic BP between 120 and 159 mmHg. A 1-week run-in period was followed by an 8-week intervention period, during which subjects consumed capsules containing either 300 mg/d of GSE or a placebo (microcrystalline cellulose). Before and after the intervention, daytime ABP readings, 24 h urine samples and fasting and non-fasting blood samples were taken. The mean baseline systolic BP was 135·8 (se 1·3) mmHg and diastolic BP was 81·5 (se 0·9) mmHg. BP values were modestly, but not significantly, affected by the polyphenol-rich GSE treatment v. placebo with an effect of − 3·0 mmHg for systolic BP (95 % CI − 6·5, 0·5) and − 1·4 mmHg for diastolic BP (95 % CI − 3·5, 0·6). Vasoactive markers including endothelin-1, NO metabolites and asymmetric dimethylarginine, plasma renin activity and platelet aggregation were not affected by the GSE intervention. Our findings show that consumption of polyphenol-rich GSE does not significantly lower ABP in untreated subjects with pre- and stage I hypertension.