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Item Fish By-Products Utilization in Food and Health: Extraction Technologies, Bioactive, and Sustainability Challenges(Wiley Periodicals LLC, 2025-11) Waqar M; Sajjad N; Ullah Q; Vasanthkumar SS; Ahmed F; Panpipat W; Aluko RE; Kaur L; Chaijan M; Ageru TAFish by-products, traditionally regarded as waste, are increasingly recognized as valuable sources of bioactive compounds, including peptides, omega-3 fatty acids, collagen, and hydroxyapatite. These molecules exhibit significant functional properties with applications in food preservation, dietary supplementation, pharmaceuticals, and cosmeceuticals. This review explores advanced extraction technologies such as enzyme-assisted hydrolysis, supercritical fluid extraction, and cold plasma processing, which enhance the yield and stability of bioactives while supporting zero-waste and circular economy principles. Despite technological progress, key barriers remain, including inconsistent raw material quality, high processing costs, regulatory uncertainty, and limited industrial infrastructure. Peptides and protein hydrolysates derived from fish frames, skins, viscera, and scales have demonstrated antioxidant, antihypertensive, antimicrobial, antidiabetic activities, but translation into functional food and health products is constrained by scalability and regulatory challenges. Future work should focus on optimizing bioprocessing, validating health benefits through clinical trials, and implementing sustainable valorization frameworks. Addressing these challenges will unlock the full potential of fish by-products in advancing food security and human health.Item Exploring youth vaping in New Zealand intermediate and high schools: a mixed-methods study protocol(BioMed Central Limited, part of Springer Nature, London, 2025-12) Jagroop-Dearing A; Lañas–Pangan J; Khan MH; Dearing CG; Forrest RHBackground: Electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) represent a global growing public-health concern among adolescents. In Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ), daily vaping rates have risen sharply (10.5%) among 15–17-year-olds in 2023/24. This is alarming due to nicotine’s addictive nature and its impact on adolescent brain development, mental health, and academic performance. Māori youth and those in socio-economically deprived areas are disproportionately affected, exacerbating existing health-inequities. Legislative frameworks prohibit vaping on school premises, yet ease of access remains a concern. Punitive school responses are increasingly viewed as harmful and ineffective, highlighting an urgent need for evidence-based, health-centred interventions. Methods: This multiphase, mixed-methods study explores vaping within secondary schools on the East Coast, NZ. Phase 1 involves online surveys to collect quantitative data on vaping behaviours, targeting 1375 students to ensure sufficient statistical power. Initial qualitative data will be gathered alongside. Phase 2 employs in-depth interviews and focus groups with students (vapers/non-vapers) and staff to explore perceptions of health risks, access, and effectiveness of school responses. A rapid scoping review (RSR) will synthesise existing research on adolescent vaping in Oceanic countries, identifying behavioural patterns, legislative impacts, and gaps in the evidence base. Discussion: This protocol addresses critical knowledge gaps by integrating quantitative and qualitative findings with a RSR. This study aims to inform the development of culturally appropriate, health-based, vape prevention and cessation strategies. Ultimately, findings may support a paradigm shift away from punitive disciplinary measures towards supportive school-based interventions, that improve public-health outcomes and reduce health inequities.Item Accurate Facial Temperature Measurement Using Low-Cost Thermal Camera for Indoor Thermal Comfort Applications(MDPI AG, Basel, 2025-11) Ahsan M; Shahzad W; Arif KMNon-contact measurement of human skin temperature is an important area of research. Infrared temperature devices have played a critical role in measuring skin temperature without physical contact. Thermal cameras have also been employed for non-contact skin temperature measurements. However, both infrared devices and thermal cameras have limitations that restrict their use in the building industry for assessing occupant thermal comfort. The building industry requires sophisticated equipment capable of measuring human temperature non-invasively and, through integration with building control systems, adjusting the environment to meet occupants’ thermal comfort needs. Unfortunately, standard thermal cameras and infrared temperature sensors are not designed with building applications in mind. This paper proposes an affordable and building-compatible thermal camera designed to measure occupant skin temperature via a non-contact method, enabling better integration with building control systems to support occupant comfort. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed system can reliably capture facial skin temperature and establish a quantifiable relationship between facial and room temperatures. Moreover, this provides a foundation for future real-time thermal comfort and building-control applications.Item pH-responsive compartmentalized alginate beads enable spatial control of sequential nanozyme reactions(Elsevier BV, Netherlands, 2025-12-01) Yang H; Whitby CP; Travas-Sejdic JControlling two-step sequential catalytic reactions through external stimuli is a powerful approach for developing responsive chemical systems with potential applications in, for example, logic-gated sensing, process-sequence checking and programmable pollutant remediation. Here, a pH-responsive compartmentalized hydrogel bead system was fabricated via coaxial microfluidic electrospray, in which gold (Au) and iron oxide (Fe3O4) nanozymes were spatially segregated into distinct domains. We systematically assessed the pH-dependent reactivity of Au and Fe3O4 nanozymes between pH 2 and 9 to evaluate individual catalytic activities. Au nanoparticles (AuNPs) exhibited glucose oxidase (GOx)-like activity at pH 8–9, quantified by a cobalt‑carbonate (Co/CO₃) UV–vis assay, while Fe3O4 NPs showed strong peroxidase (POD)-like activity at pH 2–3, quantified by 2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) diammonium salt (ABTS) oxidation. Leveraging this pH-selective behaviour, the Au-rich domain catalyses glucose oxidation to generate hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), which then diffuses into the Fe3O4-rich domain for decomposition. Compared to free and single hydrogel system, the compartmentalized system enhances the reaction efficiency by minimizing interference between nanozymes through spatial separation.Item The Need to Revitalise Drug Use Monitoring to Keep Pace With a More Dynamic, Digitally Enabled and Globally Connected Drug Market(John Wiley and Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs, 2026-01) Griffiths P; Parry C; Ambekar A; Vicknasingam B; Basutu A; Myers B; Bo A; Dietze P; Douglas K; Ezard N; Fiore M; Hynes M; Jones CM; Kent P; Mounteney J; Niaz K; Palczak K; Pascale A; Peacock A; Rychert M; Sturua L; Zhang Y-AItem Including dynamics in a network-based stochastic multihazard model: A virtual testbed for volcanic ashfall and flood risk assessment(Elsevier B.V., 2025-12) Bebbington M; Dunant A; Harte D; Mead S; Whitehead MNetwork models have been previously proposed for spatial cascades of natural hazard events. These have generally not taken time into account, with the cascade of events effectively assumed to occur instantaneously. This study introduces a dynamic, network-based stochastic model developed as a virtual testbed to simulate complex multihazard interactions between multiple temporal processes, often occurring on different time scales. Since state of the art physical models generally involve heavy computation, the use of computationally simple probability distributions to describe the dynamics and interaction of the hazard events enables a larger number of model simulations, promoting greater robustness of model forecasts. The network modelling approach aims to allow the identification of key elements of the system that are most vulnerable, develop risk mitigation strategies, and examine restoration plans. We exemplify our methodology by investigating impacts of volcanic ashfall on river flow dynamics in the Rangitaiki and Tarawera river systems in New Zealand, simulating hydrological processes over a 365-day period with a volcanic eruption. Our results demonstrate how testbeds can be use to explore “what-if” cascading impacts scenarios, by providing a flexible, computationally efficient framework, offering crucial support for Disaster Risk Management (DRM) in volcanic regions.Item Postfeminist Healthism: Understanding the Gendering of Healthism Using Menstrual Tracking Apps as an Example(John Wiley and Sons Ltd on behalf of Foundation for the Sociology of Health & Illness., 2025-11) Riley S; Evans A; Robson M‘Postfeminist healthism’ offers an essential framework for understanding how healthism is gendered. In this article, we describe and advance the concept of postfeminist sensibility and its synergistic alignments with healthism. We then consider how postfeminist healthism operates as a subjectifying force for the millions of girls, women, and other feminine-identified people globally—even when it harms their mental or physical health. We use menstrual tracking apps (MTAs) as an indicative example to both demonstrate how a postfeminist healthism acts at the intersections of bodies, subjectivity, and health, and to show the value of a postfeminist healthism in understanding MTAs. Overall, we show the importance of understanding the distinct ways in which healthism is gendered through postfeminism.Item Can Dietary Supplements Support Muscle Function and Physical Activity? A Narrative Review(MDPI AG (Basel, Switzerland), 2025-11-06) Brough L; Rees G; Drummond-Clarke L; McCallum JE; Taylor E; Kozhevnikov O; Walker S; Willoughby DSDietary supplementation is commonly used by athletes to gain muscle mass, enhance performance, and improve recovery. Most adults engage in insufficient physical activity. Yet healthy muscles are also critical for activities of daily living (ADLs), maintaining a good quality of life and positive ageing. There is growing interest in whether dietary supplementation is of value, particularly among subgroups such as the occasionally active, the ill and elderly, and peri- and menopausal women. By focusing on function, performance, mass and strength, ADLs, exercise-induced muscle damage and delayed onset muscle soreness, this review sought to examine muscle health through a nutritional lens. Further, to look at the potential benefits and harms of some commonly proposed dietary supplements in non-athlete adults, while exploring the emerging role of the gut–muscle axis. Inflammation appears central to cellular events. Several supplements were identified that, alone or in combination, may help optimise muscle health, particularly when combined with exercise or where a deficit may exist. Although supportive evidence is emerging, real-world clinical benefits remain to be substantiated. Though dietary supplements are generally safe, their regulation is less stringent than for medicines. Adherence to recommended dosage, seeking medical advice regarding possible side effects/interactions, and obtaining supplies from reliable sources are recommended.Item Structural and epistatic regulatory variants cause hallmark white spotting in cattle(American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2025-11-14) Jivanji S; Wilkinson E; Tang L; Tiplady KM; Yeates A; Harland C; Gray C; Couldrey C; Worth G; Gamache I; Desjardins J; Tabares JAA; Yamanaka N; McNaughton L; Brennan L; Cloutier M-P; Cowan M; Ellison R; Fransen T; Monehan T; Spelman RJ; Snell RG; Charlier C; Yamanaka Y; Garrick D; Mort R; Littlejohn MDDespite being one of the most iconic and immediately recognizable traits in domestic cattle, the variants underpinning the white-spotted coat pattern of Holstein-Friesian and related breeds remain uncharacterized. Here, we report two variants modulating these effects, comprising intronic and long-distance-acting regulatory variants of the MITF and KIT genes. We confirm causality through "Holsteinized" mouse models edited for these alleles and show that these variants are likely responsible for spotting traits in other bovine breeds. These effects include epistatic impacts on other bovine coat patterns, such as fine-scale speckling, "black socks," and reversal of the otherwise dominant, "white-face" trait characteristic of Hereford cattle.Item A history of lameness is associated with reduced proportions of collagen type I relative to type III in the digital cushions of dairy cattle(Elsevier B.V., 2025-12) Wilson JP; Green MJ; Randall LV; Huxley JN; Alibhai A; Ferguson HJ; Rutland CSHoof horn lesions (HHL) are a highly prevalent and recurrent causes of lameness in dairy cattle globally. The digital cushion is composed of 3 cylinders of adipose tissue embedded in a system of collagenous connective tissue, which are designed to reduce the risk of HHL onset. Previous research has identified that animals with a history of lameness and HHL are more likely to have a reduced digital cushion volume in their lateral digits, but the impact on the histological structure remains unknown. Collagen is an important fibril related to adipose tissue structure and function, but its role in the digital cushion is poorly understood. Our study aimed to examine the proportions of type I and type III collagen within the digital cushions of dairy cattle at cull, and to investigate associations with digital cushion volume, lameness, and HHL occurrence throughout the animal's life. This retrospective cohort study resulted in 599 digital cushions being dissected from the hind feet of 54 animals. Digital cushion tissue underwent picrosirius red staining, combined with systematic random sampling and collagen content analysis. The results described the relative proportions of type I and type III collagen. The proportion of type I collagen was used as the outcome variable in multivariable linear regression models. The median (minimum–maximum) proportion of collagen that was type I contained within the lateral and medial digits was 56.2% (23.6%–83.8%) and 59.6% (13.3%–92.7%) respectively. The proportion of type I collagen was lower in animals that had a history of HHL and lameness throughout their lives. Animals with a lower BCS at cull or that were culled at a later parity had less type I collagen in their lateral digits at cull. Animals with a higher digital cushion volume also had an increased proportion of type I collagen in their lateral digits at cull. Our results have highlighted the histological impact that HHL have on the structure of the digital cushion. We hypothesized that localized inflammation associated with HHL was associated with a remodeling of the adipose tissue within the digital cushion, which would predispose the individual to a future of lameness and HHL.
