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Aims and objectives: This discursive paper provides a call to action from an international collective of Indigenous nurse academics from Australia, Canada, Aotearoa New Zealand and the USA, for nurses to be allies in supporting policies and resources necessary to equitably promote Indigenous health outcomes. Background: Indigenous Peoples with experiences of colonisation have poorer health compared to other groups, as health systems have failed to address their needs and preferences. Achieving health equity will require leadership from Indigenous nurses to develop and implement new systems of care delivery. However, little is known about how Indigenous nurses influence health systems as levers for change. Design: A Kaupapa Māori case study design. Methods: Using a Kaupapa Māori case study methodology, coupled with expert Indigenous nursing knowledge, we developed a consensus on key themes. Themes were derived from three questions posed across the four countries. Themes were collated to illustrate how Indigenous nurses have provided nursing leadership to redress colonial injustices, contribute to models of care and enhance the Indigenous workforce. Results: These case studies highlight Indigenous nurses provide strong leadership to influence outcomes for Indigenous Peoples. Five strategies were noted across the four countries: (1) Indigenous nationhood and reconciliation as levers for change, (2) Indigenous nursing leadership, (3) Indigenous workforce strategies, (4) Development of culturally safe practice and Indigenous models of care and (5) Indigenous nurse activism. Conclusions: In light of 2020 declared International Year of the Nurse and Midwife, we assert Indigenous nurses' work must be visible to support development of strategic approaches for improving health outcomes, including resources for workforce expansion and for implementing new care models. Relevance to clinical practice: Curating strategies to promote Indigenous nurse leaders around the world is essential for improving models of healthcare delivery and health outcomes for Indigenous Peoples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Evolocumab, a fully human monoclonal antibody to proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9, is safe and effective in reducing low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in adults with familial hypercholesterolemia. A dedicated study, HAUSER-RCT, is being conducted to examine the efficacy and safety of evolocumab in pediatric patients with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HeFH). Objective To present the rationale and design of the HAUSER-RCT study. Methods The HAUSER-RCT study is a double-blind, randomized, multicenter, placebo-controlled study designed to characterize the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of evolocumab treatment as an add-on to diet and lipid-lowering therapy, including a stable, optimized dose of statin, in pediatric patients aged 10 to 17 years with HeFH. Approximately, 150 patients will be randomized in a 2:1 ratio to receive 24 weeks of monthly evolocumab or placebo. The study will include approximately 51 sites located in North America, South America, Europe, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. The primary efficacy endpoint is the percent change in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol from baseline to week 24. A key secondary efficacy endpoint is the percent change in other lipid parameters from baseline to week 24. Other assessments include Tanner staging, carotid intima-media thickness, and cognitive tests. At the end of the study, consenting patients can participate in an 18-month open-label extension study (HAUSER-OLE). Results The study is ongoing and the results will be communicated at the end of the study. Conclusions The HAUSER-RCT study, the largest randomized, placebo-controlled study with proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 inhibitors being conducted in the pediatric HeFH population, aims to provide efficacy, safety, and tolerability data of evolocumab as an add-on therapy in these patients. Highlights • Presenting the design and rationale of the HAUSER-RCT study. • HAUSER-RCT is a randomized ongoing study of evolocumab in children aged 10–17 years. • All participants have familial hypercholesterolemia on statin, with low-density lipoprotein cholesterol ≥130 mg/dL. • Randomization is 2:1 to blinded evolocumab or placebo for 24 weeks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes the Australian Government's announcement that it will no longer include investor–State dispute resolution provisions in future bilateral and regional trade agreements. The Australian policy shift is distinctly at odds with the recalibration strategies employed by other developed States. Philosophically, it is more in line with the hard exit from the investment law regime practiced so far by a limited number of Latin American States. Given Australia's long history as a committed supporter of international law, the Australian policy shift is likely to prove influential to a broad range of countries. With that prospect in mind, this article examines the policy change in three stages. First, it identifies and details the causal nexus between a combined set of domestic and international events and the Australian policy change. Second, it examines the direct causal factor—comprising the 2010 recommendations by the Australian Productivity Commission—in detail. Specifically, this part of the article focuses on the framing and methodology adopted by the Commission in its evaluation of the utility of investment disciplines. It uncovers problematic assumptions and omissions which, it is suggested, necessarily weaken the Commission's substantive findings. Finally, the article examines the implications of the Australian policy shift across a chronology by tracing likely short, medium and long-term consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides an overview of a strategy to enhance innovative models of clinical leadership for psychiatrists working in rural locations in Australia. The program aimed to reduce the professional isolation of psychiatrists and show a model of clinical leadership and inter-professional practice which has been found to be effective at engaging farming families. Psychiatrists who participated in the videoconferences reported changes in their ways of working with rural communities.

A small empirical study was funded by the Australian Government's Regional Health Service Program, with the aim of delivering and evaluating a series of six interactive mental health information sessions to health workers, consumers, carers and community members in small rural towns using distance education technologies (e.g. videoconferencing, telephone conferencing and the Internet). Over 250 people participated in the series involving 89 rural towns in New South Wales, Australia; 47% of these towns had a population of less than 5000. The evaluation consisted of 222 returned participant evaluation questionnaires which showed that 39% of respondents appreciated having access to mental health information, 27% valued having access to it locally, and 14% appreciated not having to travel to obtain it. The greatest percentage of problems (62%) was related to the reliability and use of the technology. The information series provided participants with an opportunity to network and learn together locally, to communicate more extensively with experts in the mental health field, and to develop greater confidence in the use of distance education technologies. Delivery by videoconference was found to be efficient in enabling a number of individuals to participate at a local site eliminating the costs associated with travel. The challenges of the initiative have been how to effectively engage rural community participation in an unfamiliar distance-learning mode (videoconferencing and web forums), developing a supporting protocol and network that ensures a successful learning event, and understanding current capabilities of the technology in rural areas. This small and specific study offers evidence of ways in which a carefully developed initiative can improve isolated community mental health literacy and suggests some benefits and challenges of community engagement and technology use which will be of interest to professionals facilitating learning in rural and remote contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recently issued ISSCR standards in stem cell research recommend registration of human pluripotent stem cell lines (hPSCs). Registration is critical to establishing stem cell provenance and connecting cell lines to data derived on those lines. In this study, we sought to understand common barriers to registration by conducting interviews with forty-eight Australian stem cell stakeholders, including researchers, clinicians, and industry professionals. Australian stem cell researchers do not routinely register their lines, and only a third of those Australian lines captured by an international registry have fully completed the registration process. Most registered Australian cell lines lack complete information about their ethical provenance or key pluripotency characteristics. Incomplete registration is poorly aligned with the goals of open science on which registries are founded. Users also expressed concerns about the quality of the incomplete information provided to the resource. Registration was considered negatively, for instance as a hurdle or barrier to publication, which impacted on user perceptions of usefulness of registration and lowered the likelihood that they would engage with registries to find resources. Broader adoption of registration by journals, and continued advocacy by stem cell societies, will be important levers for awareness and engagement with registration. Although the Australian community represents a small fraction of potential registry users, the results of this study suggest ways for journals, registries, funders, and the international stem cell community to improve registration compliance., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: [Christine Wells reports financial support was provided by Medical Research Future Fund Australia. NM SM and AK are members of hPSCreg. CAW is funded to implement the Australian stem cell registry. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper]., (Crown Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Legislation in individual member states of the European Union on human embryonic stem cell (hESC) research is as divergent as the different cultural, ethical, and religious views on the issue. On the occasion of the public launch of the European Human Embryonic Stem Cell Registry (hESCreg: www.hescreg.eu), a two-day symposium was held on 18 and 19 January 2008 in Berlin to offer participants an overview of state-of-the-art hESC research and legislation throughout Europe and in selected regions of the world. Thirty leading scientists from Europe as well as from the United States, Japan, and Australia reported on a range of aspects related to research on hESC and reviewed the key elements of the newly established hESCreg database of hESC lines. In this article we summarize and complete the information on the current status of international hESC regulation.