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Research

Children born preterm have impaired lung function and altered lung structure. However, there are conflicting reports on how preterm birth impacts aerobic exercise capacity in childhood. We aimed to investigate how neonatal history and a diagnosis of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) impact the relationship between function and structure of the lung, and aerobic capacity in school-aged children born very preterm.

Research

This study provides the first evidence on the determinants of uptake of two recent public dental benefit programs for Australian children and adolescents from disadvantaged families. Using longitudinal data from a nationally representative survey linked to administrative data with accurate information on eligibility and uptake, we find that only a third of all eligible families actually claim their benefits.

Research

Unmet language and literacy needs are common among young people who are involved with youth justice systems. However, there is limited research regarding the functional text-level language skills of this population with regard to narrative macrostructure (story grammar) and microstructure (semantics and syntax) elements. In this study, we examined macrostructure and microstructure elements in the oral and written narrative texts of 24 adolescent students of a youth detention centre. The students, who were aged 14- to 17- years, were all speakers of Standard Australian English, and 11 (46%) students met criteria for language disorder (LD).

Research

COVID-19 has caused a global public health crisis affecting most countries, including Ethiopia, in various ways. This study maps the vulnerability to infection, case severity and likelihood of death from COVID-19 in Ethiopia. Thirty-eight potential indicators of vulnerability to COVID-19 infection, case severity and likelihood of death, identified based on a literature review and the availability of nationally representative data at a low geographic scale, were assembled from multiple sources for geospatial analysis. Geospatial analysis techniques were applied to produce maps showing the vulnerability to infection, case severity and likelihood of death in Ethiopia at a spatial resolution of 1 km×1 km.

Research

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people continue to experience health inequity within the Australian health care system. Little research has examined how disparities in surgical care access and outcomes contribute to Aboriginal health. In this narrative review and call to action, we discuss five care points along the journey to high-quality surgical care: health care seeking, primary health care services, specialist services, surgery and surgical outcomes.

Research

The marine transaminase, P-ω-TA, can be employed for the transamination from 1-aminotetralins and 1-aminoindanes with differentiation of stereochemistry at both the site of reaction and at a remote stereocentre resulting in formation of ketone products with up to 93% ee. While 4-substituents are tolerated on the tetralin core, the presence of 3- or 8-substituents is not tolerated by the transaminase.

Research

To examine rates and predictors of 7-day readmission in infants hospitalised before 3 months of age with infectious and non-infectious conditions. A retrospective population-based data-linkage study of 121 854 infants from a 5-year metropolitan birth cohort (2008-2012). Cox proportional hazard models were used to examine associations between infant and maternal factors with 7-day readmission.

Research

There is no consensus about which outcomes should be evaluated in studies of pulmonary exacerbations in people with cystic fibrosis (CF). Outcomes used for evaluation should be meaningful; that is, they should capture how people feel, function or survive and be acknowledged as important to people with CF, or should be reliable surrogates of those outcomes. We aimed to summarise the outcomes and corresponding endpoints which have been reported in studies of pulmonary exacerbations, and to identify those which are most likely to be meaningful.

Research

Vitamin D deficiency (serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentration <50 nmol/l) is recognised as a public health problem globally. The present study details the prevalence and predictors of vitamin D deficiency in a nationally representative sample (n 3250) of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults aged ≥18 years. We used data from the 2012-2013 Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey (AATSIHS). Serum 25(OH)D concentrations were measured by liquid chromatography-tandem MS.

Research

Immunotherapies have revolutionized cancer treatment. In particular, immune checkpoint therapy (ICT) leads to durable responses in some patients with some cancers. However, the majority of treated patients do not respond. Understanding immune mechanisms that underlie responsiveness to ICT will help identify predictive biomarkers of response and develop treatments to convert non-responding patients to responding ones. ICT primarily acts at the level of adaptive immunity. The specificity of adaptive immune cells, such as T and B cells, is determined by antigen-specific receptors.