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Twins Research Australia (TRA) is a community of twins and researchers working on health research to benefit everyone, including twins. TRA leads multidisciplinary research through the application of twin and family study designs, with the aim of sustaining long-term twin research that, both now and in the future, gives back to the community. This article summarizes TRA’s recent achievements and future directions, including new methodologies addressing causation, linkage to health, economic and educational administrative datasets and to geospatial data to provide insight into health and disease. We also explain how TRA’s knowledge translation and exchange activities are key to communicating the impact of twin studies to twins and the wider community. Building researcher capability, providing registry resources and partnering with all key stakeholders, particularly the participants, are important for how TRA is advancing twin research to improve health outcomes for society. TRA provides researchers with open access to its vibrant volunteer membership of twins, higher order multiples (multiples) and families who are willing to consider participation in research. Established four decades ago, this resource facilitates and supports research across multiple stages and a breadth of health domains.

In urban areas, residential and community gardens are potential floral resources for pollinators. Pollinator \"friendly” gardens are a popular way to support this ecosystem service, but the pollinator plant list recommendations lack empirical evidence to show which plants are most attractive to potential pollinators. This project used a community science survey based on a morpho-species protocol to monitor five community orchards in Portland, Oregon during six months of the growing season in 2017. Overall, orchards with higher floral species richness supported higher richness and abundance of pollinators, but the pollinator communities were not significantly different among the orchard sites. Orchard fruit-set had a variable correlation with pollinator richness and abundance. At the landscape level, the number of miles of street within 500m showed a strong negative correlation with the overall pollinator community richness. Bumble bee abundance showed a strong negative correlation with the percentage of single family residential zoning, and NDVI at 2000 meters. Our community science approach promoted volunteer awareness of pollinator diversity in Portland, but did not increase volunteer intention to conserve pollinators. This research helped build evidence of the dynamics of urban pollinators and the role that community science can play in pollinator biodiversity monitoring.

Understanding the ecological mechanisms responsible for patterns of spatial genetic structure and diversity is a central issue to evolutionary ecology and biodiversity conservation. The Anthropocene has seen a mass extinction only previously observed through geological records, and freshwater fishes of North America have not been spared owing to large-scale modification of freshwater habitats and introduction of nonnative species. Concomitant with reduced numbers of species is a rapid reduction in genetic diversity within species; this diversity that is required for species to adapt to rapidly changing environments of human dominated landscapes. However, understanding why species exhibit different patterns of spatial genetic structure and genetic diversity requires substantial ecological data and knowledge of species’ life histories. This body of research incorporates both ecological and genetic data to address key issues related to the conservation of native fishes of the upper Gila River, NM, USA, and evaluates how differences in ecology among species influences their evolutionary trajectories (i.e., genetic diversity and structuring). Chapter 1 adopted a conservation genetics approach to evaluate the genetic health and long-term maintenance of genetic diversity of three imperiled species protected by New Mexico State and United States Federal laws. Estimates of contemporary effective size were low for these species, as were estimates of genetic structure (all species FST < 0.025) suggesting moderate to high gene flow for all species. Chapter 2 broadened the scope of focal species by including most of the fish community and increasing life history variation to evaluate how dispersal and life history influence patterns of genetic structure within a shared riverscape (i.e., attributes of a landscape specifically related to networks of streams and rivers). A key result was that genetic patterns were highly variable among species and related to life history and abundance. Across species, overall genetic differentiation (FST) was not strongly predicted by species traits, but fecundity was negatively associated with effect of distance on genetic structure (measured by Mantel’s r). Chapter 3 examined the relationship between metapopulation processes and species evolutionary trajectories. Metapopulation genetic effective size was reduced by temporal instability (extirpation/recolonization), but high abundance appeared to counter balance effects of temporal instability. These results indicate that ecological trade-offs related to life-history strategies (e.g., fecundity, body size, parental investment, etc.) also influence individual species’ evolutionary responses (i.e., genetic diversity and differentiation) to landscape factors and threats to persistence.

Hallucinogen use for both recreational and medical purposes is rapidly increasing globally, raising concerns about potential adverse effects. This study examined the risk of incident mania or bipolar disorder (BD) diagnosis associated with having an emergency department (ED) visit or hospitalization involving hallucinogens. We used a population-based cohort study of all individuals aged 14-65 years with no baseline history of BD and registered in the Ontario Health Insurance Plan in Ontario, Canada, between 2008-2022. Incident mania (primary outcome) and incident BD (secondary outcome) were compared between individuals with acute care (an ED visit or hospitalization) involving hallucinogens and the general population using overlap propensity score weighted Cox proportional hazard models. Models were adjusted for age, sex, rural residence, income quintile, recent documentation of homelessness, and healthcare encounters for mental health or other substance use in the past five years. The study included 9,311,844 individuals of which 7,285 (0.08%) had acute care involving hallucinogens. Within 3-years of acute care involving hallucinogens, 1.43% (n = 104) of individuals had an incident episode of mania requiring acute care compared to 0.06% (n = 41) of individuals in the age-sex matched general population, a 25-fold increase in risk. After weighting, acute care for hallucinogens was associated with a 6-fold (weighted Hazard Ratio [HR] 5.97, 95% CI 3.29, 10.82) increase in risk of incident mania relative to individuals without hallucinogen acute care who had otherwise similar demographic and mental health histories. Associated increases were also observed for risk of an incident diagnosis of BD (HR 3.75 95%CI 2.49, 5.65, absolute proportion 2.50% versus 0.11%). The main limitation of the study is the risk associated with the exposure examined in this study may not generalize to the majority of people who use hallucinogens who do not require acute care. These findings suggest the need for ongoing caution regarding hallucinogen use in individuals at risk of bipolar disorder. They also have potential implications for clinical practice, research, and public health policy, including substance regulation and targeted education for high-risk groups in the context of rising hallucinogen use.

ABSTRACTBackgroundAlthough clinical trials involving psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy have not observed short-term increases in the risk of death, limited data exist on mortality associated with hallucinogen use outside of controlled trial settings. We sought to determine whether people with an emergency department visit or hospital admission involving hallucinogen use were at increased risk of all-cause death compared with the general population and with people with acute care presentations involving other substances. MethodsWe conducted a retrospective cohort study using linked health administrative data on all people aged 15 years and older living in Ontario, Canada, from 2006 to 2022. We compared overall and cause-specific mortality between members of the general population and people with incident acute care (an emergency department visit or hospital admission) involving hallucinogens and other substances. ResultsWe included 11 415 713 people; 7953 (0.07%) had incident acute care involving hallucinogens. In a matched analysis with 77 101 people with a median follow-up of 7 (interquartile range 3–11) years, acute care involving hallucinogens was associated with a 2.6-fold (hazard ratio [HR] 2.57, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.09–3.15) increased all-cause mortality within 5 years ( n = 482, absolute risk 6.1%) relative to the general population ( n = 460, absolute risk 0.6%). Analyses excluding people with comorbid mental or substance use disorders showed similar elevations in mortality risk for acute care involving hallucinogens relative to the general population (HR 3.25, 95% CI 2.27–4.63). People with acute care involving hallucinogens were at a significantly elevated risk of death by unintentional drug poisoning (HR 2.03, 95% CI 1.02–4.05), suicide (HR 5.23, 95% CI 1.38–19.74), respiratory disease (HR 2.46, 95% CI 1.18–5.11), and cancer (HR 2.88, 95% CI 1.61–5.14) relative to the general population. InterpretationRequiring hospital-based care for hallucinogen use was associated with increases in risk of death relative to the general population, particularly from suicide. These findings should be considered in clinical and policy decision-making, given the increasing use of hallucinogens and associated problematic use.

Background Bisphenol A (BPA) is commonly used in the manufacture of plastics and epoxy resins. In North America, over 90% of the population has detectable levels of urinary BPA. Human epidemiological studies have reported adverse behavioral outcomes with BPA exposure in children, however, corresponding effects on children’s brain structure have not yet been investigated. The current study examined the association between prenatal maternal and childhood BPA exposure and white matter microstructure in children aged 2 to 5 years, and investigated whether brain structure mediated the association between BPA exposure and child behavior. Methods Participants were 98 mother-child pairs who were recruited between January 2009 and December 2012. Total BPA concentrations in spot urine samples obtained from mothers in the second trimester of pregnancy and from children at 3–4 years of age were analyzed. Children participated in a diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan at age 2–5 years (3.7 ± 0.8 years). Associations between prenatal maternal and childhood BPA and children’s fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity of 10 isolated white matter tracts were investigated, controlling for urinary creatinine, child sex, and age at the time of MRI. Post-hoc analyses examined if alterations in white matter mediated the relationship of BPA and children’s scores on the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Results Prenatal maternal urinary BPA was significantly associated with child mean diffusivity in the splenium and right inferior longitudinal fasciculus. Splenium diffusivity mediated the relationship between maternal prenatal BPA levels and children’s internalizing behavior (indirect effect: β = 0.213, CI [0.0167, 0.564]). No significant associations were found between childhood BPA and white matter microstructure. Conclusions This study provides preliminary evidence for the neural correlates of BPA exposure in humans. Our findings suggest that prenatal maternal exposure to BPA may lead to alterations in white matter microstructure in preschool aged children, and that such alterations mediate the relationship between early life exposure to BPA and internalizing problems.

Aspects of positive parenting have previously been linked to better offspring health and well-being 1 , 2 , though often, individual outcomes have been examined separately. Examining multiple outcomes simultaneously, over multiple aspects of parenting, may provide a more holistic picture of the parenting–health dynamics 3 , 4 . Methodological limitations such as reverse causation—good childhood outcomes that make parenting easier—also remain a concern in many previous observational studies 5 . Here we examined the associations between multiple aspects of parenting (including parent–child relationship satisfaction concerning love, parental authoritativeness and family dinner frequency) and various subsequent offspring psychosocial, mental, behavioural and physical health and well-being outcomes. We analysed longitudinal data from the Growing Up Today Study 1 ( N  = 8,476, mean baseline age = 12.78 years) and Growing Up Today Study 2 ( N  = 5,453, mean baseline age = 17.75 years). Both parenting and health outcomes were based on offspring self-reports. The results suggest that greater relationship satisfaction was associated with greater emotional well-being, lower risk of mental illness, eating disorders, overweight or obesity and marijuana use. To a lesser extent, greater parental authoritativeness and regular family dinner were also associated with greater offspring emotional well-being, fewer depressive symptoms, lower risk of overeating and certain sexual behaviours. This study strengthens the evidence for a public health focus on improving parenting to promote population health and well-being. By analysing data from the Growing Up Today Studies 1 and 2, Chen et al. show that positive parenting is associated with greater emotional well-being and lower risk of mental illness, eating disorders, obesity and marijuana use.

[...]EDs have begun to increase their capacity to treat opioid use disorder (OUD) in an evidence based manner [2]. Extensive research demonstrates that using medication for addiction treatment (MAT) with buprenorphine to treat OUD effectively increases retention in treatment, reduces illicit opioid use, and decreases all-cause and opioid-related mortality [3-6]. Because many patients with OUD use the ED as a primary source of care, our ED designed an evidence-based pathway to prescribe buprenorphine as part of an addiction treatment protocol for patients seeking to overcome their opioid addiction. [...]we sent monthly emails to the department from the ED's Executive Vice Chair reminding clinicians of the department's OUD initiative and providing success stories and personalized public acknowledgements to clinicians who had successfully initiated evidence based treatment to patients with OUD in the ED.