Journal Articles
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/7915
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Item A mixed-methods evaluation of an intervention for enhancing alcohol screening in adults aged 50+ attending primary health care(CSIRO Publishing on behalf of The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners, 2025-01-02) Towers A; Newcombe D; White G; McMenamin J; Sheridan J; Rahman J; Moore A; Stokes TIntroduction Adults aged 50 years and over are drinking more than ever but primary health care (PHC) professionals find it challenging to screen them for alcohol-related harm, despite being at greater risk for harm than younger drinkers. Aim This intervention aimed to enhance alcohol screening for this cohort by (a) introducing an algorithm in the patient management system to automate detection of alcohol risk in patients and (b) providing training to support health professionals' practice of, knowledge about, and comfort with alcohol screening in this cohort. Methods Eleven PHC practices in Aotearoa New Zealand took part in this intervention, including 41 PHC health professionals. Development and integration of the automated alcohol screening process within PHC patient management systems was undertaken in parallel with health professional training approaches. Results Screening rates increased substantially at intervention initiation but fell immediately with the onset of the New Zealand COVID-19 national lockdown. Two-thirds of health professionals identified the system screening prompts, over 40% felt this changed their screening practice, and 33% increased their awareness of - and felt more comfortable screening for - alcohol-related risk in those aged 50+. Discussion We illustrated an initial increase in alcohol screening rates in those aged 50+ as a result of this intervention, but this increase could not be sustained in part due to COVID-19 disruption. However, health professionals indicated that this intervention helped many change their practice and enhanced their awareness of such risk and comfort in screening for alcohol-related risk in those aged 50+.Item The effects of ageing treatment on bioactive contents and chemical composition of liquid smoke food flavourings(Springer Nature, 2022-05-01) Xin X; Zhao W; Essien S; Dell K; Baroutian SLiquid smoke food flavouring is an alternative to traditional food smoking. Ageing treatment of liquid smoke can remove tar to improve a consistent sensory experience but traditionally takes months by storage. This study proposed a thermal treatment approach to accelerate the ageing process. Liquid smoke samples from kānuka and hickory woodchips were prepared by fast pyrolysis. The obtained liquid smoke samples were subjected to ageing by storing them at ambient temperature for 18 months. Accelerated ageing of liquid smoke was carried out by heat treatment at 80 °C for 24 and 48 h. Tar formed during the ageing process, with a yield ranging from 2.2 to 4.1 wt.%. Both ageing treatments resulted in decreases in bioactive content and their activities in terms of total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), ferric reducing antioxidant power assay (FRAP) and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl scavenging activity (DPPH). Chemical composition and principal component analyses indicated that liquid smoke chemical compositions were influenced by wood type and ageing conditions. It was found that thermal treatment at 80 °C for 24 h was sufficient to age liquid smoke.Item The life course effects of socioeconomic status on later life loneliness: The role of gender and ethnicity(Elsevier Inc., 2024-09-07) Szabó Á; Stephens C; Breheny MPrecursors of loneliness include individual risk factors and experiences of social exclusion. Using the New Zealand Health Work and Retirement Life Course History Study, we investigated the impact of unequal access to material resources across the life course (from age 10 to present) on late life emotional and social loneliness and the moderating effects of gender and Māori ethnicity (indigenous population of Aotearoa/New Zealand) in 613 adults aged 65 to 81 years. Childhood and adult life socioeconomic status (SES) negatively predicted late life emotional and social loneliness, but their effects disappeared after controlling for late life SES, suggesting a mediation effect. Education was also a significant predictor; however, it exerted different effects on social (positive) and emotional (negative) loneliness. Education's effect was moderated by gender, indicating a protective effect for emotional and an exacerbating effect for social loneliness in men. These findings suggest that lifelong exclusion from material resources is a risk factor for late life loneliness.Item Older adult's experiences during the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic in Aotearoa New Zealand: Diversity and change in long term disaster situations(Elsevier B.V., 2024-01-01) Stephens C; Uekusa S; Breheny MThe COVID-19 global pandemic has highlighted the morbidity and mortality risks of older adults as well as their heterogeneity and resilience. The immediate need to address psychosocial and health issues among this age group is driven by global concerns about the growing number of disaster occurrences, the growing ageing population, and widening inequalities. Using an inductive analysis of written comments about their experiences by 1,400 older people in the second year of the pandemic in Aotearoa New Zealand, we found that responses to the pandemic and government actions had fractured as different groups of older adults felt neglected or wronged by the centralised response. Negative themes of anxiety and fear describe aspects of vulnerability in older adult's lives and point to issues for repair and protection in pandemic situations. Positive themes describe the resources that people drew on to maintain their wellbeing in a lengthy disaster. Drawing on theorising around conservation of resources and disaster communitas, our analysis shows that across a long-term disaster situation, resilience may be best sustained by drawing on local support systems and enabling community volunteers. Institutional responses and planning must include and empower grass roots groups who are better placed to recognise and respond to the resource needs of their own communities.Item Primary metabolic processes as drivers of leaf ageing(Springer Nature Switzerland AG, 2021-10) Kanojia A; Shrestha DK; Dijkwel PPAgeing in plants is a highly coordinated and complex process that starts with the birth of the plant or plant organ and ends with its death. A vivid manifestation of the final stage of leaf ageing is exemplified by the autumn colours of deciduous trees. Over the past decades, technological advances have allowed plant ageing to be studied on a systems biology level, by means of multi-omics approaches. Here, we review some of these studies and argue that these provide strong support for basic metabolic processes as drivers for ageing. In particular, core cellular processes that control the metabolism of chlorophyll, amino acids, sugars, DNA and reactive oxygen species correlate with leaf ageing. However, while multi-omics studies excel at identifying correlative processes and pathways, molecular genetic approaches can provide proof that such processes and pathways control ageing, by means of knock-out and ectopic expression of predicted regulatory genes. Therefore, we also review historic and current molecular evidence to directly test the hypotheses unveiled by the systems biology approaches. We found that the molecular genetic approaches, by and large, confirm the multi-omics-derived hypotheses with notable exceptions, where there is scant evidence that chlorophyll and DNA metabolism are important drivers of leaf ageing. We present a model that summarises the core cellular processes that drive leaf ageing and propose that developmental processes are tightly linked to primary metabolism to inevitably lead to ageing and death.Item Non-pharmacological interventions a feasible option for addressing dementia-related sleep problems in the context of family care(BioMed Central Ltd, 2021-05) Gibson R; Dowell A; Jones L; Gander PBackground Sleep disturbances are challenging symptoms associated with mild cognitive impairment or dementia (MCIoD). This study assessed the feasibility of sleep monitoring and non-pharmacological interventions to improve the sleep of New Zealanders with MCIoD and their family carers. Methods A 5-week multi-modal intervention consisting of timed bright light therapy, physical activity, and sleep education was piloted. Sleep was monitored for a week at baseline and conclusion of the trial using actigraphy, diaries, and questionnaires alongside additional health and wellbeing information concerning both care recipients and carers. Results Fifteen pairs participated, 9 completed the trial. Patterns of attrition and participant feedback are discussed. Case studies showed that six of the care recipients had minor improvements to sleep efficiency. Some also had improved subjective sleep ratings and quality of life. Changes did not clearly translate to family carers. However, five of them also showed some improvements in sleep status and mental health. Health deterioration of care recipients may mask the effects of the intervention. Conclusions It is feasible to use non-pharmacological sleep interventions for people with MCIoD and their family carers. Given the limited treatment options, further consideration of such interventions in future research and clinical practice is warranted. Trial registration As this study was to assess the feasibility of proposed methods, it was an observational study without case-control groups nor a medical-based intervention, clinical registration was not required. A future full version of the trial would be registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trails Registry.Item Quantitative measurements of enlarged perivascular spaces in the brain are associated with retinal microvascular parameters in older community-dwelling subjects(Elsevier BV, 21/08/2020) Ballerini L; McGrory S; Hernández M; Lovreglio R; Pellegrini E; Muñoz Maniega S; Henderson R; Taylor A; Bastin ME; Doubal F; Trucco E; Deary IJ; Wardlaw J; MacGillivray TBackground Perivascular Spaces (PVS) become increasingly visible with advancing age on brain MRI, yet their relationship to morphological changes in the underlying microvessels remains poorly understood. Retinal and cerebral microvessels share morphological and physiological properties. We compared computationally-derived PVS morphologies with retinal vessel morphologies in older people. Methods We analysed data from community-dwelling individuals who underwent multimodal brain MRI and retinal fundus camera imaging at mean age 72.55 years (SD=0.71). We assessed centrum semiovale PVS computationally to determine PVS total volume and count, and mean per-subject individual PVS length, width and size. We analysed retinal images using the VAMPIRE software suite, obtaining the Central Retinal Artery and Vein Equivalents (CRVE and CRAE), Arteriole-to-Venule ratio (AVR), and fractal dimension (FD) of both eyes. We investigated associations using general linear models, adjusted for age, gender, and major vascular risk factors. Results In 381 subjects with all measures, increasing total PVS volume and count were associated with decreased CRAE in the left eye (volume β=−0.170, count β=−0.184, p<0.001). No associations of PVS with CRVE were found. The PVS total volume, individual width and size increased with decreasing FD of the arterioles (a) and venules (v) of the left eye (total volume: FDa β=−0.137, FDv β=−0.139, p<0.01; width: FDa β=−0.144, FDv β=−0.158, p<0.01; size: FDa β=−0.157, FDv β=−0.162, p<0.01). Conclusions Increase in PVS number and size visible on MRI reflect arteriolar narrowing and lower retinal arteriole and venule branching complexity, both markers of impaired microvascular health. Computationally-derived PVS metrics may be an early indicator of failing vascular health and should be tested in longitudinal studies.Item Effect on the mechanical properties of type I collagen of intra-molecular lysine-arginine derived advanced glycation end-product cross-linking(Elsevier, 28/11/2017) Collier TA; Nash A; Birch HL; de Leeuw NHNon-enzymatic advanced glycation end product (AGE) cross-linking of collagen molecules has been hypothesised to result in significant changes to the mechanical properties of the connective tissues within the body, potentially resulting in a number of age related diseases. We have investigated the effect of two of these cross-links, glucosepane and DOGDIC, on the tensile and lateral moduli of the collagen molecule through the use of a steered molecular dynamics approach, using previously identified preferential formation sites for intra-molecular cross-links. Our results show that the presence of intra-molecular AGE cross-links increases the tensile and lateral Young’s moduli in the low strain domain by between 3.0 - 8.5 % and 2.9 - 60.3 % respectively, with little effect exhibited at higher strains.