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Dermal injections of hyaluronic acid gel for aesthetic skin rejuvenation are becoming increasingly popular nowadays. Although these products are classified as medical devices, the regulations on their administration by licensed practitioners are still weak, whereas their manufacturers increasingly highlight and advertise the cellular effects that underpin the efficacy of these injections. In this review, we discuss all current knowledge on the mode of action of dermally injected hyaluronic acid and the potential toxicological implications, especially from crosslinked gels, in conjunction with the current global regulations. We also highlight the urgent need for further research to elucidate the therapeutic implications and underscore the imperative need for robust regulatory frameworks to safeguard public health. We conclude that dermal injections of hyaluronic acid have several therapeutic implications that warrant further research and that strict regulations must be applied to their manufacture/quality control and the required qualifications of licensed aesthetic injectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individually distinctive acoustic signals in animal vocal communication are taxonomically widespread, however, the investigation of these signal types in marine mammals has focused only on a few species. Humpback whale songs are a stereotyped, hierarchically structured vocal display performed by males, and hence thought to be sexually selected. Within a population, whales conform to a common version of the song despite the song constantly evolving. While humpback songs have been studied extensively at the population level, individual level variation has been rarely described, with inconclusive results. Here, we quantified inter- and intra-individual variability at different levels in the song hierarchy using songs from 25 singers across two song types from the eastern Australian population song of 2002 (12 singers), and the revolutionary song introduced in 2003 (13 singers). Inter-individual variability was found heterogeneously across all hierarchical levels of the song structure. In addition, distinct and individually specific patterns of song production were consistently recorded across song levels, with clear structural differences between the two song types. These results suggest that within the constraints of song conformity, males can produce individually distinctive patterns that could function as an advertisement to females to convey individual qualities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses issues in instructional material development for rural gifted children in Australia. Issues include who should develop curriculum materials, what form should enrichment materials take, which theoretical frameworks are appropriate, and how should content be selected. Interdisciplinary materials used in developing a unit in expressive arts for gifted children are described. (DB)

A study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of Xpert MTB/RIF, an automated molecular detection test for myobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) and resistance to rifampin (RIF) in patients with suspected drug-sensitive tuberculosis. Results indicated that the test was highly effective in sensitive detection of tuberculosis and RIF resistance.

A randomized, controlled trial is conducted to test the efficacy and safety of using diarylquinoline TMC207, which inhibits mycobacterial ATP synthase as a mechanism of antituberculosis action, in the treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. Results reveal that TMC207 is safe and effective, thus validating ATP synthase as a target for antituberculosis therapy.

ABSTRACT The relationship between artificial tidal restrictions and shellfish-water quality was studied within otherwise sparsely developed estuaries on Cape Cod (Massachusetts, USA). The primary study site, the 600-ha diked Herring [...]

Aim: The aim of this paper is to describe the implementation and evaluation of the Growing Strong Brains® (GSB) toolkit in a remote Aboriginal community in Western Australia (WA) over a 2-year period, 2018–2019. Background: Ngala, a community service organisation in WA, developed the GSB toolkit in 2014, a culturally appropriate and interactive resource to build knowledge of early childhood development within Aboriginal communities. This was in response to evidence that a higher percentage of children in Aboriginal communities were developmentally vulnerable compared to the rest of the population. The GSB toolkit promotes awareness and understanding of early brain development pre-birth and in the early years of a child's life. Methods: The project was underpinned by participatory action research (PAR). Reflective PAR review cycles (n = 5) monitored local community engagement, navigated challenges and utilised community strengths. Fifty-nine local service providers attended a 2-day formal training. Data were collected by using various methods throughout the project, including feedback following training, focus groups, surveys, one-on-one interviews using yarning techniques and reflective feedback from the Project Lead. Findings: Establishing local Aboriginal project staff was pivotal to the success of the project. When delivering services for and with Aboriginal people, it is essential that cultural competence, safety and decision-making is carried through from planning to implementation and evaluation, and involves genuine, respectful and authentic relationships. Sufficient time allocation directed towards building relationships with other service providers and local community members needs to be considered and built into future projects. The Growing Strong Brains® project is embedded within the local community, and anticipated implementation outcomes were achieved. The support of the local people and service providers was beyond expectation, enabling the building of local capacity, and the development of a common understanding of the key messages from the GSB toolkit to allow integration throughout all levels of the community. This project has been important to build on the strategies necessary to introduce, implement and evaluate the GSB toolkit in other remote Aboriginal communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Describes a curriculum enrichment project for gifted children. Using the subject matter of the history of settlement patterns in Western Australia, factual learning is enhanced by the use of projective role playing. Emphasizes the mutual enhancement of rational knowing and imaginative identification. Identifies issues in developing curriculum materials for gifted children. (KO)

Described is a project in which art education graduate students in Perth, Australia, built a story mural for blind children. Using an Australian adaptation of "The Wizard of Oz," they created a mural with textures and objects that illustrated the story carried in print and braille. (SJL)

Classification of vocal signals can be undertaken using a wide variety of qualitative and quantitative techniques. Using east Australian humpback whale song from 2002 to 2014, a subset of vocal signals was acoustically measured and then classified using a Self-Organizing Map (SOM). The SOM created (1) an acoustic dictionary of units representing the song’s repertoire, and (2) Cartesian distance measurements among all unit types (SOM nodes). Utilizing the SOM dictionary as a guide, additional song recordings from east Australia were rapidly (manually) transcribed. To assess the similarity in song sequences, the Cartesian distance output from the SOM was applied in Levenshtein distance similarity analyses as a weighting factor to better incorporate unit similarity in the calculation (previously a qualitative process). SOMs provide a more robust and repeatable means of categorizing acoustic signals along with a clear quantitative measurement of sound type similarity based on acoustic features. This method can be utilized for a wide variety of acoustic databases especially those containing very large datasets and can be applied across the vocalization research community to help address concerns surrounding inconsistency in manual classification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]