Publications

Ben-Nissan, B, Choi, G, Choi, AH, Karacan, I & Evans, L 2022, 'Natural and Synthetic Intelligent Self-healing and Adaptive Materials for Medical and Engineering Applications' in Innovative Bioceramics in Translational Medicine I, Springer Singapore, pp. 89-124.
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Blumenthal, DJ, Kabakova, I, Rakich, PT & Vahala, K 2022, 'Integrated Brillouin lasers and their applications' in Brillouin Scattering Part 2, Elsevier, pp. 107-180.
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In this chapter we give a brief history of the Brillouin gain process in optical waveguides and SBLs realized with integrated Brillouin resonators. A brief discussion on the laser fundamental and integral linewidths, the fractional frequency noise, and drift is provided. We discuss progress to date on Brillouin processes in integrated silica, silicon nitride, silicon, and chalcogenide platforms. The underlying Brillouin physics in waveguide materials and the range of waveguide structures and related requirements for photon–phonon phase matching are covered as well as research efforts to implement SBS gain and lasing in these waveguide material systems. Cascaded Brillouin lasing is discussed, including mode engineering approaches to inhibit cascading to enable further linewidth narrowing and higher output powers. Finally, several applications using these integrated Brillouin technologies are presented.

Bourke, JE, Ammit, AJ, Burgess, JK, Gosens, R, Halayko, AJ, Seow, C & Hirst, SJ 2022, 'Smooth Muscle Cells' in Encyclopedia of Respiratory Medicine, Elsevier, pp. 37-51.
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Darcy, S, Collins, J & Stronach, M 2022, 'Creating my own job: Australian experiences of people with disability with microenterprises, self-employment and entrepreneurship' in Yousafzai, S, Coogan, T, Sheikh, S & Ng, W (eds), Research Handbook on Disability and Entrepreneurship, Edward Elgar Publishing, London, pp. 35-58.
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With a global scope, this book will prove invaluable for students and scholars of entrepreneurship and business management.

Darcy, S, Dickson, TJ & Schweinsberg, S 2022, 'Accessible Tourism' in Encyclopedia of Tourism Management and Marketing, Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 39-42.
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Darcy, S, Jane McIntosh, A & Cockburn-Wootten, C 2022, 'Disability' in Jenkins, J & Pigram, J (eds), Encyclopedia of Tourism Management and Marketing, Edward Elgar Publishing, New York; London, pp. 965-968.
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An encyclopaedia with 400 entries on leisure and outdoor recreation. The disability entry was 2200 words

Kabakova, I, Scarcelli, G & Yun, S-H 2022, 'Brillouin light scattering in biological systems' in Brillouin Scattering Part 2, Elsevier, pp. 313-348.
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The past 20 years have seen new application of the physics of Brillouin light scattering to the fields of biology, bioengineering, and biomedicine. Mapping of the 3D micromechanical properties of biological systems with the focused beam of light holds great potential to provide new insights in the range of fundamental biology questions related to cell–matrix interactions, cell differentiation, and pathogenesis. In this chapter we introduce the main principles on which the field of BioBrillouin imaging stands, discuss major technological developments in the instrumentations of Brillouin microscopy, and provide a brief overview of key applications of this technology to various fields of biology and medicine.

Karacan, I, Milthorpe, B, Ben-Nissan, B & Santos, J 2022, 'Stem Cells and Proteomics in Biomaterials and Biomedical Applications' in Innovative Bioceramics in Translational Medicine I, Springer Singapore, pp. 125-157.
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Kitchin, PJ, Hammond, AM, Bundon, A, Howe, PD & Darcy, S 2022, 'COVID-19 and Disability Sport' in Routledge Handbook of Sport and COVID-19, Routledge, UK, pp. 291-306.
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This chapter scrutinises the impact of COVID-19 on disability sport. The chapter starts by discussing the various discourses and commentaries on disability sport and culture in analysing how a more accessible and inclusive future can be developed. Some of the key questions addressed in this chapter include: How is COVID-19 furthering inequalities for disabled people in sport? Are there aspects of disability culture, documented in and outside of sport studies research, that could inform the reimagining of a more accessible and inclusive sporting landscape following the COVID-19 pandemic? and, What strategies and initiatives can sport managers take to develop more accessible and inclusive sporting practices as we learn to live with this coronavirus?.

Liu Chung Ming, C, Ben-Sefer, E & Gentile, C 2022, 'Stem Cell-Based 3D Bioprinting for Cardiovascular Tissue Regeneration' in Advanced Technologies in Cardiovascular Bioengineering, Springer International Publishing, pp. 281-312.
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Macha, IJ & Ben-Nissan, B 2022, 'Past and Future of Wound Dressing in Soft and Hard Tissue Surgery' in Springer Series in Biomaterials Science and Engineering, Springer Singapore, pp. 1-14.
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Maxwell, H, Darcy, S, Grabowski, S & Onyx, J 2022, 'Disability and the Arts: Inclusive Practice for Health and Wellbeing' in Maxwell, H, McGrath, R, Young, J & Peel, J (eds), Exploring the Leisure - Health Nexus, CABI, London, pp. 33-51.
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McCauley, JI, Ortega, JS, Gentile, C & Ralph, PJ 2022, 'Chapter 7 Microalgal applications in biomedicine and healthcare' in Algae-Based Biomaterials for Sustainable Development, Elsevier, pp. 133-156.
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McCauley, JI, Ortega, JS, Gentile, C & Ralph, PJ 2022, 'Microalgal applications in biomedicine and healthcare' in Algae-Based Biomaterials for Sustainable Development, Elsevier, pp. 133-156.
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The field of research that explores the use of microalgae in biomedicine and health is complex and diverse. Numerous research avenues currently explore the use of microalgae in biomedicine and heath such as: focusing on establishing and boosting nutritional profiles for food applications; identification, characterisation and utilisation of microalgal metabolites with biological activity as functional ingredients and/or drugs; utilisation of recombinant technology to genetically modify the algae for use as production systems for enzymes, antibodies, growth factors, drugs, and vaccines; or the use of microalgae as a source of “biomaterial” for use in applications such as drug carriers or cellular scaffolds for tissue engineering. To illustrate the diversity of microalgae and its potential for utilisation in a wide variety of biomedical and heath care applications, this chapter will present a concise overview of this broad applicability of microalgae in biomedicine and health, while highlighting research that is also occurring into the production and biorefinery of these compounds to facilitate a viable transition from laboratory to commercial production. Thus, this chapter aims to bridge the knowledge gap between both existing and potentially new algae applications, in particular, the use of microalgae as a source of “biomaterials” for biomedicine and health applications.

Mirakhorli, F, Mohseni, SS, Bazaz, SR, Mehrizi, AA, Ralph, PJ & Warkiani, ME 2022, 'Microfluidic Platforms for Cell Sorting' in Sustainable Separation Engineering: Materials, Techniques and Process Development, Wiley, pp. 653-695.
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Microfluidic platforms have evolved in recent years to assist researchers and biologists in performing biological and medical assays for cell separation and sorting. These microfluidic systems are competitive alternatives to conventional methods in terms of cost, sample volume reduction, high sensitivity, portability, fast processing, and elimination of chemical labels required for detection. In this chapter, these techniques have been classified into two major groups, active and passive, based on their energy intake and operating standards. Each separation technique was described briefly, and their operational principles were explained in detail. To specify the applications of each technique, the most recent popular examples have been explained along with common metrics used for the evolution of microfluidic system, including efficiency, accuracy, and throughput. This chapter is designed to be helpful for researchers who aim to develop unique microfluidic separator systems with further innovative designs in microfluidic platforms.

Schweinsberg, S & Darcy, S 2022, 'Academics' in Encyclopedia of Tourism Management and Marketing, Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 27-30.
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Schweinsberg, S & Darcy, S 2022, 'Inclusive Tourism' in Encyclopedia of Tourism Management and Marketing, Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 663-665.
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Tavakoli, J & Tang, Y 2022, 'Vortex Fluidics‐mediated Fluorescent Hydrogels with Aggregation‐induced Emission Characteristics' in Handbook of Aggregation-Induced Emission: Emerging applications, Wiley, pp. 221-242.
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Aboulkheyr Es, H, Aref, AR & Warkiani, ME 2022, 'Generation and Culture of Organotypic Breast Carcinoma Spheroids for the Study of Drug Response in a 3D Microfluidic Device', Methods in Molecular Biology, vol. 2535, pp. 49-57.
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Breast cancer (BC) is a leading cause of cancer death among women worldwide. To better understand and predict therapeutic response in BC patient developing a fast, low-cost, and reliable preclinical tumor from patient's tumor specimen is needed. Here, we describe the development of a preclinical model of BC through the generation and ex vivo culture of patient-derived organotypic tumor spheroids (PDOTS) in a 3D microfluidic device. Moreover, the real-time screening of conventional chemotherapy agents on cultured PDOTS is also described.

Agar, MR, Chang, S, Amgarth-Duff, I, Garcia, MV, Hunt, J, Phillips, JL, Sinnarajah, A & Fainsinger, R 2022, 'Investigating the benefits and harms of hypodermoclysis of patients in palliative care: A consecutive cohort study', Palliative Medicine, vol. 36, no. 5, pp. 830-840.
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Background: Palliative populations are at risk for dehydration which can cause discomfort, distress and cognitive symptoms. Subcutaneous hydration (‘hypodermoclysis’) has been used as an alternative administration route to the more invasive intravenous route, but research is lacking on its net clinical effects (harms and benefits) for palliative populations, particularly in real world settings. Aim: To quantify prospectively the net clinical effects of hypodermoclysis in palliative patients with advanced disease who required supplementary fluids. Design: Multisite, multinational consecutive cohort study. Setting/participants: Patients receiving hypodermoclysis in an inpatient palliative care setting. Results: Twenty sites contributed data for 99 patients, of which 88 had complete benefits and harms data. The most common primary target symptom for infusion was generalised weakness (18.2%), and the most common non-symptom indication was supplemental hydration (31.8%). Benefits were experienced in 33% of patients in their primary target symptom, and in any symptom in 56.8%. Harms were experienced in 38.7% of patients (42% at Grade 1). Benefits increased with higher performance status, while harms were more frequent in patients with lower performance status (Australia-modified Karnofsky performance status ⩽40). Patients in the terminal phase of their illness experienced the least benefit (15.4% in any indication only) and had more frequent harms (38%). Conclusions: Hypodermoclysis may improve certain symptoms in patients in palliative care but frequency of harms and benefits may differ at certain timepoint...

Agarwal, A, Leslie, WD, Nguyen, TV, Morin, SN, Lix, LM & Eisman, JA 2022, 'Performance of the Garvan Fracture Risk Calculator in Individuals with Diabetes: A Registry-Based Cohort Study', Calcified Tissue International, vol. 110, no. 6, pp. 658-665.
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Diabetes increases fracture and falls risks. We evaluated the performance of the Garvan fracture risk calculator (FRC) in individuals with versus without diabetes. Using the population-based Manitoba bone mineral density (BMD) registry, we identified individuals aged 50-95 years undergoing baseline BMD assessment from 1 September 2012, onwards with diabetes and self-reported falls in the prior 12 months. Five-year Garvan FRC predictions were generated from clinical risk factors, with and without femoral neck BMD. We identified non-traumatic osteoporotic fractures (OF) and hip fractures (HF) from population-based data to 31 March 2018. Fracture risk stratification was assessed from area under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUROC). Cox regression analysis was performed to examine the effect of diabetes on fractures, adjusted for Garvan FRC predictions. The study population consisted of 2618 women with and 14,064 without diabetes, and 636 and 2201 men with and without the same, respectively. The Garvan FRC provided significant OF and HF risk stratification in women with diabetes, similar to those without diabetes. Analyses of OF in men were limited by smaller numbers; no significant difference was evident by diabetes status. Cox regression showed that OF risk was 23% greater in women with diabetes adjusted for Garvan FRC including BMD (hazard ratio [HR] 1.23, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.01-1.49), suggesting it slightly underestimated risk; a non-significant increase in diabetes-related HF risk was noted (HR 1.37, 95% CI 0.88-2.15). Garvan FRC shows similar fracture risk stratification in individuals with versus without diabetes, but may underestimate this risk.

Agarwal, A, Leslie, WD, Nguyen, TV, Morin, SN, Lix, LM & Eisman, JA 2022, 'Predictive performance of the Garvan Fracture Risk Calculator: a registry-based cohort study', Osteoporosis International, vol. 33, no. 3, pp. 541-548.
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UNLABELLED: The G arvan Fracture Risk Calculator predicts risk of osteoporotic fractures. We evaluated its predictive performance in 16,682 women and 2839 men from Manitoba, Canada, and found significant risk stratification, with a strong gradient across scores. The tool outperformed clinical risk factors and bone mineral density for fracture risk stratification. INTRODUCTION: The optimal model for fracture risk estimation to guide treatment decision-making remains controversial. Our objective was to evaluate the predictive performance of the Garvan Fracture Risk Calculator (FRC) in a large clinical registry from Manitoba, Canada. METHODS: Using the population-based Manitoba Bone Mineral Density (BMD) registry, we identified women and men aged 50-95 years undergoing baseline BMD assessment from September 1, 2012, onwards. Five-year Garvan FRC predictions were generated from clinical risk factors (CRFs) with and without femoral neck BMD. We identified incident non-traumatic osteoporotic fractures (OFs) and hip fractures (HFs) from population-based healthcare data sources to March 31, 2018. Fracture risk was assessed from area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC). Cox regression analysis and calibration ratios (5-year observed/predicted) were assessed for risk quintiles. All analyses were sex stratified. RESULTS: We included 16,682 women (mean age 66.6 + / - SD 8.7 years) and 2839 men (mean age 68.7 + / - SD 10.2 years). During a mean observation time of 2.6 years, incident OFs were identified in 681 women and 140 men and HFs in 199 women and 22 men. AUROC showed significant fracture risk stratification with the Garvan FRC. Tool predictions without BMD were better than from age or decreasing weight, and the tool with BMD performed better than BMD alone. Garvan FRC with BMD performed better than without BMD, especially for HF prediction (AUROC 0.86 in women, 0.82 in men). There was a strong gradient of increasing risk across Garvan FRC...

Ain, K, Rahma, O, Putra, A, Rahmatillah, A, Putri, YKA, Fajriaty, N & Chai, R 2022, 'Electrodermal activity for measuring cognitive and emotional stress level', Journal of Medical Signals & Sensors, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 155-155.
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Stress can lead to harmful conditions in the body, such as anxiety disorders and depression. One of the promising noninvasive methods, which has been widely used in detecting stress and emotion, is electrodermal activity (EDA). EDA has a tonic and phasic component called skin conductance level and skin conductance response (SCR). However, the components of the EDA cannot be directly extracted and need to be deconvolved to obtain it. The EDA signals were collected from 18 healthy subjects that underwent three sessions - Stroop test with increasing stress levels. The EDA signals were then deconvoluted by using continuous deconvolution analysis (CDA) and convex optimization approach to electrodermal activity (cvxEDA). Four features from the result of the deconvolution process were collected, namely sample average, standard deviation, first absolute difference, and normalized first absolute difference. Those features were used as the input of the classification process using the extreme learning machine (ELM). The output of classification was the stress level; mild, moderate, and severe. The visual of the phasic component using cvxEDA is more precise or smoother than the CDA's result. However, both methods could separate SCR from the original skin conductivity raw and indicate the small peaks from the SCR. The classification process results showed that both CDA and cvxEDA methods with 50 hidden layers in ELM had a high accuracy in classifying the stress level, which was 95.56% and 94.45%, respectively. This study developed a stress level classification method using ELM and the statistical features of SCR. The result showed that EDA could classify the stress level with over 94% accuracy. This system could help people monitor their mental health during overworking, leading to anxiety and depression because of untreated stress.

Alghalayini, A, Cranfield, CG, Cornell, BA & Valenzuela, SM 2022, 'Preparing Ion Channel Switch Membrane-Based Biosensors', Methods in Molecular Biology, vol. 2402, pp. 13-20.
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Monitoring the changes in membrane conductance using electrical impedance spectroscopy is the platform of membrane-based biosensors in order to detect a specific target molecule. These biosensors represent the amalgamation of an electrical conductor such as gold and a chemically tethered bilayer lipid membrane with specific incorporated ion channels such as gramicidin-A that is further functionalized with detector molecules of interest.

Alharbi, KS, Afzal, O, almalki, WH, Kazmi, I, Javed Shaikh, MA, Thangavelu, L, Gulati, M, Singh, SK, Jha, NK, Gupta, PK, Chellappan, DK, Oliver, BG, Dua, K & Gupta, G 2022, 'Nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) inhibition as a therapeutic target for plant nutraceuticals in mitigating inflammatory lung diseases', Chemico-Biological Interactions, vol. 354, pp. 109842-109842.
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Alharbi, KS, Shaikh, MAJ, Almalki, WH, Kazmi, I, Al-Abbasi, FA, Alzarea, SI, Imam, SS, Alshehri, S, Ghoneim, MM, Singh, SK, Chellappan, DK, Oliver, BG, Dua, K & Gupta, G 2022, 'PI3K/Akt/mTOR Pathways Inhibitors with Potential Prospects in Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer', Journal of Environmental Pathology, Toxicology and Oncology, vol. 41, no. 4, pp. 85-102.
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Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality across the globe. The most prevalent pathological form of lung cancer is non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Elevated stimulation of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway causes a slew of cancer-related symptoms, making it a promising target for new anticancer drugs. The PI3K/Akt/mTOR path is involved extensively in carcinogenesis and disease advancement in NSCLC. Several new inhibitors targeting this pathway have been discovered in preclinical investigations and clinical trials. The etiology and epidemiology of NSCLC and biology of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR cascade and its role in NSCLC pathogenesis have all been discussed in this article. In this article, we've reviewed PI3K/Akt/mTOR cascade inhibitors that have been proven in vitro and in preclinical trials to be effective in NSCLC. Drugs targeting the PI3K/Akt/mTOR path in the treatment of NSCLC were also addressed. A better knowledge of the underlying molecular biology, including epigenetic changes, is also critical to detecting relevant biomarkers and guiding combination methods. Additionally, improved clinical trial designs will increase the capacity to test novel drugs and combinations for accounting for genomic variation and eventually improve patient outcomes.

Allam, VSRR, Chellappan, DK, Jha, NK, Shastri, MD, Gupta, G, Shukla, SD, Singh, SK, Sunkara, K, Chitranshi, N, Gupta, V, Wich, PR, MacLoughlin, R, Oliver, BGG, Wernersson, S, Pejler, G & Dua, K 2022, 'Treatment of chronic airway diseases using nutraceuticals: Mechanistic insight', Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, vol. 62, no. 27, pp. 7576-7590.
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Respiratory diseases, both acute and chronic, are reported to be the leading cause of morbidity and mortality, affecting millions of people globally, leading to high socio-economic burden for the society in the recent decades. Chronic inflammation and decline in lung function are the common symptoms of respiratory diseases. The current treatment strategies revolve around using appropriate anti-inflammatory agents and bronchodilators. A range of anti-inflammatory agents and bronchodilators are currently available in the market; however, the usage of such medications is limited due to the potential for various adverse effects. To cope with this issue, researchers have been exploring various novel, alternative therapeutic strategies that are safe and effective to treat respiratory diseases. Several studies have been reported on the possible links between food and food-derived products in combating various chronic inflammatory diseases. Nutraceuticals are examples of such food-derived products which are gaining much interest in terms of its usage for the well-being and better human health. As a consequence, intensive research is currently aimed at identifying novel nutraceuticals, and there is an emerging notion that nutraceuticals can have a positive impact in various respiratory diseases. In this review, we discuss the efficacy of nutraceuticals in altering the various cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in mitigating the symptoms of respiratory diseases.

Allam, VSRR, Paudel, KR, Gupta, G, Singh, SK, Vishwas, S, Gulati, M, Gupta, S, Chaitanya, MVNL, Jha, NK, Gupta, PK, Patel, VK, Liu, G, Kamal, MA, Hansbro, PM, Oliver, BGG, Chellappan, DK & Dua, K 2022, 'Nutraceuticals and mitochondrial oxidative stress: bridging the gap in the management of bronchial asthma', Environmental Science and Pollution Research, vol. 29, no. 42, pp. 62733-62754.
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AbstractAsthma is a chronic inflammatory disease primarily characterized by inflammation and reversible bronchoconstriction. It is currently one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the world. Oxidative stress further complicates the pathology of the disease. The current treatment strategies for asthma mainly involve the use of anti-inflammatory agents and bronchodilators. However, long-term usage of such medications is associated with severe adverse effects and complications. Hence, there is an urgent need to develop newer, novel, and safe treatment modalities for the management of asthma. This has therefore prompted further investigations and detailed research to identify and develop novel therapeutic interventions from potent untapped resources. This review focuses on the significance of oxidative stressors that are primarily derived from both mitochondrial and non-mitochondrial sources in initiating the clinical features of asthma. The review also discusses the biological scavenging system of the body and factors that may lead to its malfunction which could result in altered states. Furthermore, the review provides a detailed insight into the therapeutic role of nutraceuticals as an effective strategy to attenuate the deleterious effects of oxidative stress and may be used in the mitigation of the cardinal features of bronchial asthma.

Alsahafi, YA, Gay, V & Khwaji, AA 2022, 'Factors affecting the acceptance of integrated electronic personal health records in Saudi Arabia: The impact of e-health literacy', Health Information Management Journal, vol. 51, no. 2, pp. 98-109.
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Background: National implementation of electronic personal health record (ePHR) systems is of vital importance to governments worldwide because this type of technology promises to promote and enhance healthcare. Although there is widespread agreement as to the advantages of ePHRs, the level of awareness and acceptance of this technology among healthcare consumers has been low. Objective: The aim of this study was to identify the factors that can influence the acceptance and use of an integrated ePHR system in Saudi Arabia. Method: The unified theory of acceptance and use of technology model was extended in this study to include e-health literacy (e-HL) and tested using structural equation modelling. Data were collected via a questionnaire survey, resulting in 794 valid responses. Results: The proposed model explained 56% of the variance in behavioural intention (BI) to use the integrated ePHR system. Findings also highlighted the significance of performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence (SI) and e-HL as determinants of Saudi healthcare consumers’ intentions to accept and use the integrated ePHR system. Additionally, assessment of the research model moderators revealed that only gender had a moderating influence on the relationship between SI and BI. Finally, findings showed a low level of awareness among Saudi citizens about the national implementation of an integrated ePHR system, suggesting the need to promote a greater and more widespread awareness of the system and to demonstrate its usefulness. Conclusion: Findings from this study can assist governments, policymakers and developers of health information technologies and systems by identifyin...

Al-Zu'bi, MM, Mohan, AS, Plapper, PW & Ling, SH 2022, 'Intrabody Molecular Communication via Blood-Tissue Barrier for Internet of Bio-Nano Things.', IEEE Internet Things J., vol. 9, no. 21, pp. 21802-21810.
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An, Y, Lam, H-K & Ling, SH 2022, 'Auto-Denoising for EEG Signals Using Generative Adversarial Network.', Sensors, vol. 22, no. 5, pp. 1750-1750.
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The brain–computer interface (BCI) has many applications in various fields. In EEG-based research, an essential step is signal denoising. In this paper, a generative adversarial network (GAN)-based denoising method is proposed to denoise the multichannel EEG signal automatically. A new loss function is defined to ensure that the filtered signal can retain as much effective original information and energy as possible. This model can imitate and integrate artificial denoising methods, which reduces processing time; hence it can be used for a large amount of data processing. Compared to other neural network denoising models, the proposed model has one more discriminator, which always judges whether the noise is filtered out. The generator is constantly changing the denoising way. To ensure the GAN model generates EEG signals stably, a new normalization method called sample entropy threshold and energy threshold-based (SETET) normalization is proposed to check the abnormal signals and limit the range of EEG signals. After the denoising system is established, although the denoising model uses the different subjects’ data for training, it can still apply to the new subjects’ data denoising. The experiments discussed in this paper employ the HaLT public dataset. Correlation and root mean square error (RMSE) are used as evaluation criteria. Results reveal that the proposed automatic GAN denoising network achieves the same performance as the manual hybrid artificial denoising method. Moreover, the GAN network makes the denoising process automatic, representing a significant reduction in time.

Arora, P, Nainwal, LM, Gupta, G, Singh, SK, Chellappan, DK, Oliver, BG & Dua, K 2022, 'Orally administered solasodine, a steroidal glycoalkaloid, suppresses ovalbumin-induced exaggerated Th2-immune response in rat model of bronchial asthma', Chemico-Biological Interactions, vol. 366, pp. 110138-110138.
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Asadniaye Fardjahromi, M, Nazari, H, Ahmadi Tafti, SM, Razmjou, A, Mukhopadhyay, S & Warkiani, ME 2022, 'Metal-organic framework-based nanomaterials for bone tissue engineering and wound healing', Materials Today Chemistry, vol. 23, pp. 100670-100670.
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Over the past decade, tremendous growth has been witnessed in the synthesis of scaffolds fabricated by natural or synthetic, composite, or hybrid biomaterials to enhance wound healing, repair of bone fractures, and pathological loss of bones. However, the current limitations of using these scaffolds in tissue engineering are impaired cellular proliferation, poor differentiation, low mechanical stability, and bioactivity. Recent advances in the fabrication of nanoscale metal-organic framework (nano-MOF) scaffolds have provided golden opportunities to enhance the properties of scaffolds in bone and wound tissue engineering. In the past few years, studies have shown that incorporating nano-MOFs into scaffolds can be highly favorable in the regeneration of imperfect tissues owing to their unique properties such as high internal surface areas, high porosity, good mechanical stability, biocompatibility, and tunability. Moreover, the nanoscale structural and topological properties of nano-MOFs enhance the physicochemical properties of scaffolds, enrich them with drug-loading and ion-releasing capacity, and regulate stem cell attachment, proliferation, and differentiation after transplantation. This review initially introduces the various nano-MOFs incorporated into scaffolds for tissue engineering. Recent applications of nanoMOFs for bone and wound healing are comprehensively discussed. The unique properties of nano-MOFs for improving osteoconductivity, osteoinductivity, and wound healing, such as high antibacterial activity, high drug loading capacity (i.e., bioactive molecules and growth factors), and controlled drug release, are discussed. Finally, challenges, clinical barriers, and considerations for implementing these nanomaterials in different scaffolds, tissue-like structures, implants, fillers, and dressers in the orthopedic and wound clinics are comprised.

Ashique, S, De Rubis, G, Sirohi, E, Mishra, N, Rihan, M, Garg, A, Reyes, R-J, Manandhar, B, Bhatt, S, Jha, NK, Singh, TG, Gupta, G, Singh, SK, Chellappan, DK, Paudel, KR, Hansbro, PM, Oliver, BG & Dua, K 2022, 'Short Chain Fatty Acids: Fundamental mediators of the gut-lung axis and their involvement in pulmonary diseases', Chemico-Biological Interactions, vol. 368, pp. 110231-110231.
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Augustine, R, S, A, Nayeem, A, Salam, SA, Augustine, P, Dan, P, Maureira, P, Mraiche, F, Gentile, C, Hansbro, PM, McClements, L & Hasan, A 2022, 'Increased complications of COVID-19 in people with cardiovascular disease: Role of the renin–angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) dysregulation', Chemico-Biological Interactions, vol. 351, pp. 109738-109738.
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The rapid spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has had a dramatic negative impact on public health and economies worldwide. Recent studies on COVID-19 complications and mortality rates suggest that there is a higher prevalence in cardiovascular diseases (CVD) patients. Past investigations on the associations between pre-existing CVDs and susceptibility to coronavirus infections including SARS-CoV and the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), have demonstrated similar results. However, the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. This has impeded adequate risk stratification and treatment strategies for CVD patients with SARS-CoV-2 infections. Generally, dysregulation of the expression of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) and the counter regulator, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is a hallmark of cardiovascular risk and CVD. ACE2 is the main host receptor for SARS-CoV-2. Although further studies are required, dysfunction of ACE2 after virus binding and dysregulation of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) signaling may worsen the outcomes of people affected by COVID-19 and with preexisting CVD. Here, we review the current knowledge and outline the gaps related to the relationship between CVD and COVID-19 with a focus on the RAAS. Improved understanding of the mechanisms regulating viral entry and the role RAAS may direct future research with the potential to improve the prevention and management of COVID-19.

Bai, X, Chen, H & Oliver, BG 2022, 'miRNAs-mediated overexpression of Periostin is correlated with poor prognosis and immune infiltration in lung squamous cell carcinoma', Aging, vol. 14, no. 9, pp. 3757-3781.
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Lung cancer is one of the most common malignancies with a high mortality rate worldwide. POSTN has been shown to be strongly correlated with the poor prognosis of lung cancer patients. However, the function and mechanism of action of POSTN in lung cancer remain unclear. Here, we carried out a pan-cancer analysis to assess the clinical prognostic value of POSTN based on the TCGA, TIMER, Oncomine, Kaplan-Meier, and UALCAN databases. We found that upregulated POSTN can be a promising biomarker to predict the prognosis of patients with lung cancer. High levels of POSTN correlated with immune cell infiltration in lung cancer, especially lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC), which was further confirmed based on the results from the TISIDB database. Moreover, the expression analysis, correlation analysis, and survival analysis revealed that POSTN-targeted miRNAs, downregulation of has-miR-144-3p and has-miR-30e-3p, were significantly linked to poor prognosis in patients with LUSC. Taken together, we identified that POSTN can act as a novel biomarker for determining the prognosis related to immune infiltration in patients with LUSC and deserves further research.

Bai, X, Chen, H & Oliver, BG 2022, 'The health effects of traffic-related air pollution: A review focused the health effects of going green', Chemosphere, vol. 289, pp. 133082-133082.
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Banerjee, S, Lyu, J, Huang, Z, Leung, FHF, Lee, T, Yang, D, Su, S, Zheng, Y & Ling, SH 2022, 'Ultrasound spine image segmentation using multi-scale feature fusion Skip-Inception U-Net (SIU-Net)', Biocybernetics and Biomedical Engineering, vol. 42, no. 1, pp. 341-361.
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Scoliosis is a 3D spinal deformation where the spine takes a lateral curvature, forming an angle in the coronal plane. Diagnosis of scoliosis requires periodic detection, and frequent exposure to radiative imaging may cause cancer. A safer and more economical alternative imaging, i.e., 3D ultrasound imaging modality, is being explored. However, unlike other radiative modalities, an ultrasound image is noisy, which often suppresses the image's useful information. Through this research, a novel hybridized CNN architecture, multi-scale feature fusion Skip-Inception U-Net (SIU-Net), is proposed for a fully automatic bony feature detection, which can be further used to assess the severity of scoliosis safely and automatically. The proposed architecture, SIU-Net, incorporates two novel features into the basic U-Net architecture: (a) an improvised Inception block and (b) newly designed decoder-side dense skip pathways. The proposed model is tested on 109 spine ultrasound image datasets. The architecture is evaluated using the popular (i) Jaccard Index (ii) Dice Coefficient and (iii) Euclidean distance, and compared with (a) the basic U-net segmentation model, (b) a more evolved UNet++ model, and (c) a newly developed MultiResUNet model. The results show that SIU-Net gives the clearest segmentation output, especially in the important regions of interest such as thoracic and lumbar bony features. The method also gives the highest average Jaccard score of 0.781 and Dice score of 0.883 and the lowest histogram Euclidean distance of 0.011 than the other three models. SIU-Net looks promising to meet the objectives of a fully automatic scoliosis detection system.

Barbetta, C, Allgar, V, Maddocks, M, Ribeiro, C, Wilcock, A, Currow, DC, Phillips, J & Johnson, MJ 2022, 'Australia-modified Karnofsky Performance Scale and physical activity in COPD and lung cancer: an exploratory pooled data analysis', BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care, vol. 12, no. e6, pp. e759-e762.
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ObjectivesPatient-relevant measures of functional status are required in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer in clinical practice and research. We explored the relationship between the Australia-modified Karnofsky Performance Scale (AKPS) and measures of functional capacity and physical activity in these patient groups.MethodsPooled clinical trial data were analysed to explore the relationship between AKPS and average daily steps (ADS), 6 min walk distance (6MWD), and body mass index, airflow obstruction, dyspnoea and exercise score (COPD group). Receiver operator characteristic curves were produced to compare sensitivity and specificity of cut-offs (no dependency >70, high dependency <60) and area under the curve (AUC).ResultsSeven clinical trials included people with COPD (n=79) and lung cancer (n=150). To detect an AKPS of >70, the optimal ADS cut-points were COPD, 3342 steps (AUC 0.88, 95% CI 0.79 to 0.97, sensitivity 82%, specificity 76%), and lung cancer, 3380 steps (AUC 0.72, 95% CI 0.64 to 0.81, sensitivity 61%, specificity 74%), and for 6MWD (COPD only) 242 m (AUC 0.72, 95% CI 0.63 to 0.81, sensitivity 73%, specificity 34%).ConclusionsAn AKPS score is strongly related to ADS in people with COPD and lung cancer. The AKPS may be useful in clinical practice and research to indicate levels of physical activity where ADS and 6 min walk test are not possible. Longitudinal data are needed to confirm these findings.

Bastani Viarsagh, S, Zhang, ME, Shariflou, S, Agar, A & Golzan, SM 2022, 'Cognitive Performance on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment Test and Retinal Structural and Functional Measures in Glaucoma', Journal of Clinical Medicine, vol. 11, no. 17, pp. 5097-5097.
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Background: Glaucoma, the leading cause of irreversible blindness, is classified as a neurodegenerative disease, and its incidence increases with age. Pathophysiological changes, such as the deposition of amyloid-beta plaques in the retinal ganglion cell layer, as well as neuropsychological changes, including cognitive decline, have been reported in glaucoma. However, the association between cognitive ability and retinal functional and structural measures in glaucoma, particularly glaucoma subtypes, has not been studied. We studied the association between cognitive ability and the visual field reliability indices as well as the retinal ganglion cell (RGC) count estimates in a cohort of glaucoma patients. Methods: A total of 95 eyes from 61 glaucoma patients were included. From these, 20 were normal-tension glaucoma (NTG), 25 were primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG), and 16 were glaucoma suspects. All the participants had a computerised Humphrey visual field (HVF) assessment and optical coherence tomography (OCT) scan and were administered the written Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) test. RGC count estimates were derived based on established formulas using the HVF and OCT results. A MoCA cut-off score of 25 and less was designated as cognitive impairment. Student’s t-test was used to assess differences between the groups. The Pearson correlation coefficient was used to assess the association between MoCA scores and retinal structural and functional measures. Results: Significant associations were found between MoCA scores and the false-negative and pattern standard deviation indices recorded on the HVF (r = −0.19, r = −0.22, p < 0.05). The mean IOP was significantly lower in the cognitively impaired group (i.e., MOCA ≤ 25) (13.7 ± 3.6 vs. 15.7 ± 4.5, p < 0.05). No significant association was found between RGC count estimates and MoCA scores. Analysis of these parameters in individual glaucoma subtypes did not reveal any group-specific s...

Bhat, AA, Gupta, G, Alharbi, KS, Afzal, O, Altamimi, ASA, Almalki, WH, Kazmi, I, Al-Abbasi, FA, Alzarea, SI, Chellappan, DK, Singh, SK, MacLoughlin, R, Oliver, BG & Dua, K 2022, 'Polysaccharide-Based Nanomedicines Targeting Lung Cancer', Pharmaceutics, vol. 14, no. 12, pp. 2788-2788.
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A primary illness that accounts for a significant portion of fatalities worldwide is cancer. Among the main malignancies, lung cancer is recognised as the most chronic kind of cancer around the globe. Radiation treatment, surgery, and chemotherapy are some medical procedures used in the traditional care of lung cancer. However, these methods lack selectivity and damage nearby healthy cells. Several polysaccharide-based nanomaterials have been created to transport chemotherapeutics to reduce harmful and adverse side effects and improve response during anti-tumour reactions. To address these drawbacks, a class of naturally occurring polymers called polysaccharides have special physical, chemical, and biological characteristics. They can interact with the immune system to induce a better immunological response. Furthermore, because of the flexibility of their structures, it is possible to create multifunctional nanocomposites with excellent stability and bioavailability for the delivery of medicines to tumour tissues. This study seeks to present new views on the use of polysaccharide-based chemotherapeutics and to highlight current developments in polysaccharide-based nanomedicines for lung cancer.

Bordhan, P, Razavi Bazaz, S, Jin, D & Ebrahimi Warkiani, M 2022, 'Advances and enabling technologies for phase-specific cell cycle synchronisation', Lab on a Chip, vol. 22, no. 3, pp. 445-462.
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Schematic illustration of conventional (left) and microfluidics-based (right) phase-specific cell cycle synchronization strategies.

Bradbury, P, Cidem, A, Mahmodi, H, Davies, JM, Spicer, PT, Prescott, SW, Kabakova, I, Ong, HX & Traini, D 2022, 'Timothy Grass Pollen Induces Spatial Reorganisation of F-Actin and Loss of Junctional Integrity in Respiratory Cells', Inflammation, vol. 45, no. 3, pp. 1209-1223.
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Grass pollens have been identified as mediators of respiratory distress, capable of exacerbating respiratory diseases including epidemic thunderstorm asthma (ETSA). It is hypothesised that during thunderstorms, grass pollen grains swell to absorb atmospheric water, rupture, and release internal protein content to the atmosphere. The inhalation of atmospheric grass pollen proteins results in deadly ETSA events. We sought to identify the underlying cellular mechanisms that may contribute towards the severity of ETSA in temperate climates using Timothy grass (Phleum pratense). Respiratory cells exposed to Timothy grass pollen protein extract (PPE) caused cells to undergo hypoxia ultimately triggering the subcellular re-organisation of F-actin from the peri junctional belt to cytoplasmic fibre assembly traversing the cell body. This change in actin configuration coincided with the spatial reorganisation of microtubules and importantly, decreased cell compressibility specifically at the cell centre. Further to this, we find that the pollen-induced reorganisation of the actin cytoskeleton prompting secretion of the pro-inflammatory cytokine, interleukin-8. In addition, the loss of peri-junctional actin following exposure to pollen proteins was accompanied by the release of epithelial transmembrane protein, E-cadherin from cell-cell junctions resulting in a decrease in epithelial barrier integrity. We demonstrate that Timothy grass pollen regulates F-actin dynamics and E-cadherin localisation in respiratory cells to mediate cell-cell junctional integrity highlighting a possible molecular pathway underpinning ETSA events.

Braytee, A, Naji, M & Kennedy, PJ 2022, 'Unsupervised Domain-Adaptation-Based Tensor Feature Learning With Structure Preservation', IEEE Transactions on Artificial Intelligence, vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 370-380.
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Domain adaptation (DA) is widely used in computer vision and pattern recognition applications. It is an effective process where a model is trained on objects from the source domain to predict the categories of the objects in the target domain. The aim of feature extraction in domain adaptation is to learn the best representation of the data in a certain domain and use it in other domains. However, the main challenge here is the difference between the data distributions of the source and target domains. Also, in computer vision, the data are represented as tensor objects such as 3-D images and video sequences. Most of the existing methods in DA apply vectorization to the data, which leads to information loss due to failure to preserve the natural tensor structure in a low-dimensional space. Thus, in this article, we propose unsupervised DA-based tensor feature learning (UDA-TFL) as a novel adapted feature extraction method that aims to avoid vectorization during transfer knowledge simultaneously; retain the structure of the tensor objects; reduce the data discrepancy between source and target domains; and represent the original tensor object in a lower dimensional space that is resistant to noise. Therefore, multilinear projections are determined to learn the tensor subspace without vectorizing the original tensor objects via an alternating optimization strategy. We integrate maximum mean discrepancy in the objective function to reduce the difference between source and target distributions. Extensive experiments are conducted on 39 cross-domain datasets from different fields, including images and videos. The promising results indicate that UDA-TFL significantly outperforms the state-of-the-art.

Brown, A, Pain, T, Tan, A, Anable, L, Callander, E, Watt, K, Street, D & De Abreu Lourenco, R 2022, 'Men’s preferences for image-guidance in prostate radiation therapy: A discrete choice experiment', Radiotherapy and Oncology, vol. 167, pp. 49-56.
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Brown, A, Tan, A, Anable, L, Callander, E, De Abreu Lourenco, R & Pain, T 2022, 'Perceptions and recall of treatment for prostate cancer: A survey of two populations', Technical Innovations & Patient Support in Radiation Oncology, vol. 24, pp. 78-85.
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Bykerk, L & Valls Miro, J 2022, 'Detection of Water Leaks in Suburban Distribution Mains with Lift and Shift Vibro-Acoustic Sensors', Vibration, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 370-382.
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Leaks in Water Distribution Networks (WDNs) account for a large proportion of Non-Revenue Water (NRW) for utilities worldwide. Typically, a leak is only confirmed once water surfaces, allowing the leak to be traced; however, a high percentage of leaks may never surface, incurring large water losses and costs for utilities. Active Leak Detection (ALD) methods can be used to detect hidden leaks; however, the success of such methods is highly dependent on the available detection instrumentation and the experience of the operator. To aid in the detection of both hidden and surfacing leaks, deployment of vibro-acoustic sensors is being increasingly explored by water utilities for temporary structural health monitoring. In this paper, data were collected and curated from a range of temporary Lift and Shift (L&S) vibro-acoustic sensor deployments across suburban Sydney. Time-frequency and frequency-domain features were generated to assess the performance and suitability of two state-of-the-art binary classification models for water leak detection. The results drawn from the extensive field data sets are shown to provide reliable leak detection outcomes, with accuracies of at least 97% and low false positive rates. Through the use of such a reliable leak detection system, utilities can streamline their leak detection and repair processes, effectively mitigating NRW and reducing customer disruptions.

Bykerk, L & Valls Miro, J 2022, 'Vibro-Acoustic Distributed Sensing for Large-Scale Data-Driven Leak Detection on Urban Distribution Mains', Sensors, vol. 22, no. 18, pp. 6897-6897.
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Non-surfacing leaks constitute the dominant source of water losses for utilities worldwide. This paper presents advanced data-driven analysis methods for leak monitoring using commercial field-deployable semi-permanent vibro-acoustic sensors, evaluated on live data collected from extensive multi-sensor deployments across a sprawling metropolitan city. This necessarily includes a wide variety of pipeline sizes, materials and surrounding soils, as well as leak sources and rates brought about by external factors. The novel proposition for structural pipe health monitoring shows that excellent leak/no-leak classification results (>94% accuracy) can be observed using Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) trained with Short-Time Fourier Transforms (STFTs) of the raw audio files. Most notably, it is shown how this can be achieved irrespective of the sensor used, with four models from different manufactures being part of the investigation, and over time across extended densely populated areas.

Camaya, I, Donnelly, S & O'Brien, B 2022, 'Targeting the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway in pancreatic β‐cells to enhance their survival and function: An emerging therapeutic strategy for type 1 diabetes', Journal of Diabetes, vol. 14, no. 4, pp. 247-260.
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AbstractType 1 diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune disease caused by the destruction of the insulin‐producing β‐cells within the pancreas. Islet transplantation represents one cure; however, during islet preparation and post transplantation significant amounts of β‐cell death occur. Therefore, prevention and cure of T1D is dependent upon the preservation of β‐cell function and the prevention of β‐cell death. Phosphoinositide 3‐kinase (PI3K)/Akt signaling represents a promising therapeutic target for T1D due to its pronounced effects on cellular survival, proliferation, and metabolism. A growing amount of evidence indicates that PI3K/Akt signaling is a critical determinant of β‐cell mass and function. Modulation of the PI3K/Akt pathway, directly (via the use of highly specific protein and peptide‐based biologics, excretory/secretory products of parasitic worms, and complex constituents of plant extracts) or indirectly (through microRNA interactions) can regulate the β‐cell processes to ultimately determine the fate of β‐cell mass. An important consideration is the identification of the specific PI3K/Akt pathway modulators that enhance β‐cell function and prevent β‐cell death without inducing excessive β‐cell proliferation, which may carry carcinogenic side effects. Among potential PI3K/Akt pathway agonists, we have identified a novel parasite‐derived protein, termed FhHDM‐1 (Fasciola hepatica helminth defense molecule 1), which efficiently stimulates the PI3K/Akt pathway in β‐cells to enhance function and prevent death without concomitantly inducing proliferation unlike several other identified stimulators of PI3K/Akt signaling . As such, FhHDM‐1 will inform the design of biologics aimed at targeting the PI3K/Akt pathway to prevent/ameliorate not only T1D but also T2D, which is now widely recognized as an inflammatory disease characterized by β‐cell dysfunction and death. This review will explore th...

Caperchione, CM, Sharp, P, Phillips, JL, Agar, M, Liauw, W, Harris, CA, Marin, E, McCullough, S & Lilian, R 2022, 'Bridging the gap between attitudes and action: A qualitative exploration of clinician and exercise professional’s perceptions to increase opportunities for exercise counselling and referral in cancer care', Patient Education and Counseling, vol. 105, no. 7, pp. 2489-2496.
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OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to 1) understand factors impacting the implementation of exercise communication and referral, and 2) explore integrated clinical approaches to exercise communication and referral in cancer care. METHODS: Seven focus groups (N = 53) were conducted with clinicians and exercise professionals throughout Sydney, Australia. A sub-sample of participants (n = 9) attended a half-day workshop to identifying best practice approaches for moving forward. Data were analysed using thematic content analysis. RESULTS: Two themes emerged: 1) Factors impacting the knowledge-to-action gap, inclusive of limited exercise specific knowledge and training opportunities, funding structure, and current referral process, and 2) Recommendations for a consistent and efficient way forward, detailing the need for oncologist-initiated communication, distribution of cancer-exercise resources, and access to exercise professionals with cancer expertise. CONCLUSIONS: This study identified factors (e.g., cancer-exercise specific training, integration of exercise physiologists) influencing exercise counselling and referral. A potential implementation-referral approach accounting for these factors and how to incorporate exercise into a standard model of cancer care, is described. Future testing is required to determine feasibility and practicality of these approaches. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: A pragmatic model is provided to guide implementation-referral, inclusive of oncologist-initiated communication exchange, relevant resources, and access to exercise professionals with cancer expertise.

Caperchione, CM, Stolp, S, Phillips, JL, Agar, M, Sharp, P, Liauw, W, Harris, CA, McCullough, S & Lilian, R 2022, 'Cancer survivors’ exercise beliefs, knowledge, and behaviors: An Australian National Survey', Asia-Pacific Journal of Clinical Oncology, vol. 18, no. 6, pp. 625-633.
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AbstractAimsThis study aimed to (1) explore the perceptions of people living with cancer about exercise in general and exercise as an adjunct form of cancer care, (2) explore their perceptions regarding exercise counselling needs and preferences, and (3) investigate how these perceptions of exercise as an adjunct form of cancer care shape survivors exercise levels postcancer diagnosis.MethodsA cross‐sectional design and online survey were used to recruit cancer survivors via cancer‐related networks throughout Australia. Two factor analyses were conducted to examine the structure and reduce the number of variables pertaining to exercise during and after the cancer treatment. Extracted components were used in one‐way analysis of variance to compare differences in physical activity levels postcancer diagnosis.ResultsParticipants (N = 288) had very positive perceptions of exercise, yet only 50% of participants would prefer to receive exercise counselling. Those who were more active postcancer diagnosis had higher exercise beliefs than those who were similarly active (p = 0.04, r = 0.27) and less active (p = 0.03, r = 0.24) postdiagnosis. Those who were less active also had lower exercise knowledge than those who were similarly active (p = 0.01, r = 0.31) and more active (p = 0.03, r = 0.26). Safety beliefs did not significantly differ between cancer survivors’ activity levels (p = 0.16)ConclusionThis survey highlights the potential benefits...

Carey, KA, Farrar, MA, Kasparian, NA, Street, DJ & De Abreu Lourenco, R 2022, 'Family, healthcare professional, and societal preferences for the treatment of infantile spinal muscular atrophy: A discrete choice experiment', Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, vol. 64, no. 6, pp. 753-761.
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AimTo understand the factors that most influence decision‐making in the treatment of infantile spinal muscular atrophy (SMA).MethodA discrete choice experiment was conducted among parents of people with SMA (parents), healthcare professionals (HCPs), and members of the Australian general population (GenPop). Respondents were asked to accept/reject treatment for an infant newly diagnosed with SMA in eight hypothetical scenarios, characterized by different combinations of the attributes of the treatment offered. The results were analyzed using probability analysis.ResultsCompleted responses were provided from 1113 individuals (1024 GenPop, 21 parents, 68 HCPs). Respondents were more likely to accept treatments that improved functioning and mobility. Treatments with higher costs, invasive delivery, and risks of adverse events were accepted less often. Cost most affected treatment choices by HCPs and GenPop, while change in mobility and mode of administration were most influential for parents.InterpretationThese results highlight the importance of understanding value for money and clinical impact in affecting treatment choice, which are crucial for effective planning of healthcare and the successful implementation of treatment programmes for SMA.What this paper addsSpinal muscular atrophy (SMA) treatments with a higher chance of improving functioning and mobility are preferred by the general population, parents, and healthcare professionals.Treatments with ...

Castorina, A, Mandwie, M, Piper, J, Gorrie, C, Keay, K, Musumeci, G & Al-Badri, G 2022, 'Rapid GFAP and Iba1 expression changes in the female rat brain following spinal cord injury', Neural Regeneration Research, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 378-378.
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Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a devastating condition often associated with sleep disorders, mood change and depression. Evidence suggests that rapid changes to supporting glia may predispose individuals with SCI to such comorbidities. Here, we interrogated the expression of astrocyte- and microglial-specific markers glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and ionized calcium binding adaptor molecule 1 (Iba1) in the rat brain in the first 24 hours following spinal cord injury (SCI). Female Sprague Dawley rats underwent thoracic laminectomy; half of the rats received a mild contusion injury at the level of the T10 vertebral body (SCI group), the other half did not (Sham group). Twenty-four hours post-surgery the rats were sacrificed, and the amygdala, periaqueductal grey, prefrontal cortex, hypothalamus, lateral thalamus, hippocampus (dorsal and ventral) were collected. GFAP and Iba1 mRNA and protein levels were measured by real-time qPCR and Western blot. In SCI rats, GFAP mRNA and protein expression increased in the amygdala and hypothalamus (*p<0.05). In contrast, gene and protein expression decreased in the thalamus (**p<0.01) and dorsal hippocampus (*p<0.05 and **p<0.01, respectively). Interestingly, Iba1 transcripts and proteins were significantly diminished only in the dorsal (*p<0.05 and **p<0.01, respectively) and ventral hippocampus, where gene expression diminished (*p<0.05 for both mRNA and protein). Considered together, these findings demonstrate that as early as 24 hours post-SCI there are region-specific disruptions of GFAP and Iba1 transcript and protein levels in higher brain regions.

Chalmers, T, Eaves, S, Lees, T, Lin, C, Newton, PJ, Clifton‐Bligh, R, McLachlan, CS, Gustin, SM & Lal, S 2022, 'The relationship between neurocognitive performance and HRV parameters in nurses and non‐healthcare participants', Brain and Behavior, vol. 12, no. 3, p. e2481.
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AbstractNurses represent the largest sector of the healthcare workforce, and it is established that they are faced with ongoing physical and mental demands that leave many continuously stressed. In turn, this chronic stress may affect cardiac autonomic activity, which can be non‐invasively evaluated using heart rate variability (HRV). The association between neurocognitive parameters during acute stress situations and HRV has not been previously explored in nurses compared to non‐nurses and such, our study aimed to assess these differences. Neurocognitive data were obtained using the Mini‐Mental State Examination and Cognistat psychometric questionnaires. ECG‐derived HRV parameters were acquired during the Trier Social Stress Test. Between‐group differences were found in domain‐specific cognitive performance for the similarities (p = .03), and judgment (p = .002) domains and in the following HRV parameters: SDNNbaseline, (p = .004), LFpreparation (p = .002), SDNNpreparation (p = .002), HFpreparation (p = .02), and TPpreparation (p = .003). Negative correlations were found between HF power and domain‐specific cognitive performance in nurses. In contrast, both negative and positive correlations were found between HRV and domain‐specific cognitive performance in the non‐nurse group. The current findings highlight the prospective use of autonomic HRV markers in relation to cognitive performance while building a relationship between autonomic dysfunction and cognition.

Chalmers, T, Hickey, BA, Newton, P, Lin, C-T, Sibbritt, D, McLachlan, CS, Clifton-Bligh, R, Morley, J & Lal, S 2022, 'Stress Watch: The Use of Heart Rate and Heart Rate Variability to Detect Stress: A Pilot Study Using Smart Watch Wearables', Sensors, vol. 22, no. 1, pp. 151-151.
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Stress is an inherent part of the normal human experience. Although, for the most part, this stress response is advantageous, chronic, heightened, or inappropriate stress responses can have deleterious effects on the human body. It has been suggested that individuals who experience repeated or prolonged stress exhibit blunted biological stress responses when compared to the general population. Thus, when assessing whether a ubiquitous stress response exists, it is important to stratify based on resting levels in the absence of stress. Research has shown that stress that causes symptomatic responses requires early intervention in order to mitigate possible associated mental health decline and personal risks. Given this, real-time monitoring of stress may provide immediate biofeedback to the individual and allow for early self-intervention. This study aimed to determine if the change in heart rate variability could predict, in two different cohorts, the quality of response to acute stress when exposed to an acute stressor and, in turn, contribute to the development of a physiological algorithm for stress which could be utilized in future smartwatch technologies. This study also aimed to assess whether baseline stress levels may affect the changes seen in heart rate variability at baseline and following stress tasks. A total of 30 student doctor participants and 30 participants from the general population were recruited for the study. The Trier Stress Test was utilized to induce stress, with resting and stress phase ECGs recorded, as well as inter-second heart rate (recorded using a FitBit). Although the present study failed to identify ubiquitous patterns of HRV and HR changes during stress, it did identify novel changes in these parameters between resting and stress states. This study has shown that the utilization of HRV as a measure of stress should be calculated with consideration of resting (baseline) anxiety and stress states in order to ens...

Chalmers, T, Hickey, BA, Newton, P, Lin, C-T, Sibbritt, D, McLachlan, CS, Clifton-Bligh, R, Morley, JW & Lal, S 2022, 'Associations between Sleep Quality and Heart Rate Variability: Implications for a Biological Model of Stress Detection Using Wearable Technology', International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, vol. 19, no. 9, pp. 5770-5770.
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Introduction: The autonomic nervous system plays a vital role in the modulation of many vital bodily functions, one of which is sleep and wakefulness. Many studies have investigated the link between autonomic dysfunction and sleep cycles; however, few studies have investigated the links between short-term sleep health, as determined by the Pittsburgh Quality of Sleep Index (PSQI), such as subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, habitual sleep efficiency, sleep disturbances, use of sleeping medication, and daytime dysfunction, and autonomic functioning in healthy individuals. Aim: In this cross-sectional study, the aim was to investigate the links between short-term sleep quality and duration, and heart rate variability in 60 healthy individuals, in order to provide useful information about the effects of stress and sleep on heart rate variability (HRV) indices, which in turn could be integrated into biological models for wearable devices. Methods: Sleep parameters were collected from participants on commencement of the study, and HRV was derived using an electrocardiogram (ECG) during a resting and stress task (Trier Stress Test). Result: Low-frequency to high-frequency (LF:HF) ratio was significantly higher during the stress task than during the baseline resting phase, and very-low-frequency and high-frequency HRV were inversely related to impaired sleep during stress tasks. Conclusion: Given the ubiquitous nature of wearable technologies for monitoring health states, in particular HRV, it is important to consider the impacts of sleep states when using these technologies to interpret data. Very-low-frequency HRV during the stress task was found to be inversely related to three negative sleep indices: sleep quality, daytime dysfunction, and global sleep score.

Chan, LLY, Anderson, DE, Cheng, HS, Ivan, FX, Chen, S, Kang, AEZ, Foo, R, Gamage, AM, Tiew, PY, Koh, MS, Lee, KCH, Nichol, K, Pathinayake, PS, Chan, YL, Yeo, TW, Oliver, BG, Wark, PAB, Liu, L, Tan, NS, Wang, L-F & Chotirmall, SH 2022, 'The establishment of COPD organoids to study host-pathogen interaction reveals enhanced viral fitness of SARS-CoV-2 in bronchi', Nature Communications, vol. 13, no. 1, p. 7635.
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AbstractChronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterised by airflow limitation and infective exacerbations, however, in-vitro model systems for the study of host-pathogen interaction at the individual level are lacking. Here, we describe the establishment of nasopharyngeal and bronchial organoids from healthy individuals and COPD that recapitulate disease at the individual level. In contrast to healthy organoids, goblet cell hyperplasia and reduced ciliary beat frequency were observed in COPD organoids, hallmark features of the disease. Single-cell transcriptomics uncovered evidence for altered cellular differentiation trajectories in COPD organoids. SARS-CoV-2 infection of COPD organoids revealed more productive replication in bronchi, the key site of infection in severe COVID-19. Viral and bacterial exposure of organoids induced greater pro-inflammatory responses in COPD organoids. In summary, we present an organoid model that recapitulates the in vivo physiological lung microenvironment at the individual level and is amenable to the study of host-pathogen interaction and emerging infectious disease.

Chan, Y, Singh, SK, Gulati, M, Wadhwa, S, Prasher, P, Kumar, D, Kumar, AP, Gupta, G, Kuppusamy, G, Haghi, M, George Oliver, BG, Adams, J, Chellappan, DK & Dua, K 2022, 'Advances and applications of monoolein as a novel nanomaterial in mitigating chronic lung diseases', Journal of Drug Delivery Science and Technology, vol. 74, pp. 103541-103541.
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Chronic lung diseases such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer, and the recently emerged COVID-19, are a huge threat to human health, and among the leading causes of global morbidity and mortality every year. Despite availability of various conventional therapeutics, many patients remain poorly controlled and have a poor quality of life. Furthermore, the treatment and diagnosis of these diseases are becoming increasingly challenging. In the recent years, the application of nanomedicine has become increasingly popular as a novel strategy for diagnosis, treatment, prevention, as well as follow-up of chronic lung diseases. This is attributed to the ability of nanoscale drug carriers to achieve targeted delivery of therapeutic moieties with specificity to diseased site within the lung, thereby enhancing therapeutic outcomes of conventional therapies whilst minimizing the risks of adverse reactions. For this instance, monoolein is a polar lipid nanomaterial best known for its versatility, thermodynamic stability, biocompatibility, and biodegradability. As such, it is commonly employed in liquid crystalline systems for various drug delivery applications. In this review, we present the applications of monoolein as a novel nanomaterial-based strategy for targeted drug delivery with the potential to revolutionize therapeutic approaches in chronic lung diseases.

Chandrakanthan, V, Rorimpandey, P, Zanini, F, Chacon, D, Olivier, J, Joshi, S, Kang, YC, Knezevic, K, Huang, Y, Qiao, Q, Oliver, RA, Unnikrishnan, A, Carter, DR, Lee, B, Brownlee, C, Power, C, Brink, R, Mendez-Ferrer, S, Enikolopov, G, Walsh, W, Göttgens, B, Taoudi, S, Beck, D & Pimanda, JE 2022, 'Mesoderm-derived PDGFRA+ cells regulate the emergence of hematopoietic stem cells in the dorsal aorta', Nature Cell Biology, vol. 24, no. 8, pp. 1211-1225.
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AbstractMouse haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) first emerge at embryonic day 10.5 (E10.5), on the ventral surface of the dorsal aorta, by endothelial-to-haematopoietic transition. We investigated whether mesenchymal stem cells, which provide an essential niche for long-term HSCs (LT-HSCs) in the bone marrow, reside in the aorta–gonad–mesonephros and contribute to the development of the dorsal aorta and endothelial-to-haematopoietic transition. Here we show that mesoderm-derived PDGFRA+ stromal cells (Mesp1der PSCs) contribute to the haemogenic endothelium of the dorsal aorta and populate the E10.5–E11.5 aorta–gonad–mesonephros but by E13.5 were replaced by neural-crest-derived PSCs (Wnt1der PSCs). Co-aggregating non-haemogenic endothelial cells with Mesp1der PSCs but not Wnt1der PSCs resulted in activation of a haematopoietic transcriptional programme in endothelial cells and generation of LT-HSCs. Dose-dependent inhibition of PDGFRA or BMP, WNT and NOTCH signalling interrupted this reprogramming event. Together, aorta–gonad–mesonephros Mesp1der PSCs could potentially be harnessed to manufacture LT-HSCs from endothelium.

Chellappan, DK, Paudel, KR, Tan, NW, Cheong, KS, Khoo, SSQ, Seow, SM, Chellian, J, Candasamy, M, Patel, VK, Arora, P, Singh, PK, Singh, SK, Gupta, G, Oliver, BG, Hansbro, PM & Dua, K 2022, 'Targeting the mitochondria in chronic respiratory diseases', Mitochondrion, vol. 67, pp. 15-37.
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Chellappan, DK, Prasher, P, Saravanan, V, Vern Yee, VS, Wen Chi, WC, Wong, JW, Wong, JK, Wong, JT, Wan, W, Chellian, J, Molugulu, N, Prabu, SL, Ibrahim, R, Darmarajan, T, Candasamy, M, Singh, PK, Mishra, V, Shastri, MD, Zacconi, FC, Chakraborty, A, Mehta, M, Gupta, PK, Dureja, H, Gulati, M, Singh, SK, Gupta, G, Jha, NK, George Oliver, BG & Dua, K 2022, 'Protein and peptide delivery to lungs by using advanced targeted drug delivery', Chemico-Biological Interactions, vol. 351, pp. 109706-109706.
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The challenges and difficulties associated with conventional drug delivery systems have led to the emergence of novel, advanced targeted drug delivery systems. Therapeutic drug delivery of proteins and peptides to the lungs is complicated owing to the large size and polar characteristics of the latter. Nevertheless, the pulmonary route has attracted great interest today among formulation scientists, as it has evolved into one of the important targeted drug delivery platforms for the delivery of peptides, and related compounds effectively to the lungs, primarily for the management and treatment of chronic lung diseases. In this review, we have discussed and summarized the current scenario and recent developments in targeted delivery of proteins and peptide-based drugs to the lungs. Moreover, we have also highlighted the advantages of pulmonary drug delivery over conventional drug delivery approaches for peptide-based drugs, in terms of efficacy, retention time and other important pharmacokinetic parameters. The review also highlights the future perspectives and the impact of targeted drug delivery on peptide-based drugs in the coming decade.

Chen, H, Haddadi, N, Zhu, X, Hatoum, D, Chen, S, Nassif, NT, Lin, Y & McGowan, EM 2022, 'Expression Profile of Sphingosine Kinase 1 Isoforms in Human Cancer Tissues and Cells: Importance and Clinical Relevance of the Neglected 1b-Isoform', Journal of Oncology, vol. 2022, pp. 1-12.
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Background.Overexpression of sphingosine kinase 1 (SphK1) is casually associated with many types of cancer, and inhibitors of SphK1 sensitize tumors to chemotherapy. SphK1 is expressed as two major isoforms, SphK1a and SphK1b. To date, no information has been reported on the SphK1 isoform expression profile and its clinical relevance. Objective. The objective is to examine the expression profile of the SphK1a and SPhK1b isoforms in human cancer and noncancer tissues and cell lines and explore their clinical relevance. Methods. We used PCR to qualitatively examine the expression profile of these two isoforms in breast, liver, and prostate cancer tissues plus paired adjacent tissues and in 11 cancer and normal cell lines (breast, cervical, bone, prostate, colon, brain, mesothelioma tumor and benign, and human kidney cells). Results. We found that SphK1a was ubiquitously expressed in all cancer cells and tissues tested; in contrast, SphK1b was only expressed in selective cell types in breast, prostate, and lung cancer. Conclusions. Our data suggest that SphK1a is important for generic SphK1/S1P functions, and SphK1b mediates specialized and/or unique pathways in a specific type of tissue and could be a biomarker for cancer. This discovery is important for future SphK1-related cancer research and may have clinical implications in drug development associated with SphK1-directed cancer treatment.

Chen, H, Oliver, BG, Pant, A, Olivera, A, Poronnik, P, Pollock, CA & Saad, S 2022, 'Effects of air pollution on human health – Mechanistic evidence suggested by in vitro and in vivo modelling', Environmental Research, vol. 212, pp. 113378-113378.
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Chen, H, Van Reyk, D, Oliveira, A, Chan, YL, Town, SEL, Rayner, B, Pollock, CA, Saad, S, George, J, Padula, MP & Oliver, BG 2022, 'Sex-Dependent Responses to Maternal Exposure to PM2.5 in the Offspring', Antioxidants, vol. 11, no. 11, pp. 2255-2255.
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Objective: Particulate matter (PM) with a diameter of 2.5 μm or less (PM2.5) can cross the blood-placental barrier causing adverse foetal outcomes. However, the impact of maternal exposure to low-levels of PM2.5 on liver health and the metabolic profile is unclear. This study aimed to investigate hepatic responses to long-term gestational low-dose PM2.5 exposure, and whether the removal of PM after conception can prevent such effects. Method: Female Balb/c mice (8 weeks) were exposed to PM2.5 (5 μg/day) for 6 weeks prior to mating, during gestation and lactation to model living in a polluted environment (PM group). In a sub-group, PM2.5 exposure was stopped post-conception to model mothers moving to areas with clean air (pre-gestation, Pre) group. Livers were studied in 13-week old offspring. Results: Female offspring in both PM and Pre groups had increased liver triglyceride and glycogen levels, glucose intolerance, but reduced serum insulin and insulin resistance. Male offspring from only the Pre group had increased liver and serum triglycerides, increased liver glycogen, glucose intolerance and higher fasting glucose level. Markers of oxidative stress and inflammation were increased in females from PM and Pre groups. There was also a significant sex difference in the hepatic response to PM2.5 with differential changes in several metabolic markers identified by proteomic analysis. Conclusions: Maternal PM exposure exerted sex-dependent effects on liver health with more severe impacts on females. The removal of PM2.5 during gestation provided limited protection in the offspring’s metabolism regardless of sex.

Chen, H, van Reyk, D, Reyna, J & Oliver, BG 2022, 'A comparison of attitudes toward remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic between students attending a Chinese and an Australian campus', Advances in Physiology Education, vol. 46, no. 2, pp. 297-308.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has been a strong driver for moving more teaching and learning activities online. Border restrictions have had a severe impact on international students either hoping to enroll in courses offered in Australia or continue with such courses if they are already enrolled. The online learning experience is likely different between students onshore and offshore. This study took a unique opportunity to investigate any such differences in students’ attitudes toward remote learning, necessitated by the pandemic, by comparing two cohorts of students, Australia versus China based. An anonymous survey using the Likert Scale and open-ended questions was available for student feedback on subject delivery. The students based in Australia expressed a preference for remote learning due to the convenience of attendance and availability of the video recordings. However, students in China had a strong preference for face-to-face sessions, with the lack of prior experience in an English-speaking learning environment and hesitance to speak with the lecturers and engage in the learning activities possible reasons for this. In quizzes, students in Australia performed better than those in China regardless of local or international student status. This difference may be due to the Australian-based students’ prior experience of English-speaking environments and open-book quizzes. In conclusion, remote learning in a familiar language and learning environment is accepted by students, whereas if the teaching is delivered in a second language using unfamiliar teaching methods, remote learning will require additional scaffolding to enhance their learning experience.

Chen, H, Yang, Y, Miyai, H, Yi, C & Oliver, BG 2022, 'The effects of exercise with nicotine replacement therapy for smoking cessation in adults: A systematic review', Frontiers in Psychiatry, vol. 13, p. 1053937.
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ObjectiveThis systematic review aimed to evaluate the efficacy of exercise programmes with nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) for smoking cessation in adults.IntroductionNicotine addiction is mediated by dopamine. Exercise can also activate the dopamine reward system. Therefore, exercise may effectively facilitate NRT to reduce cigarette cravings and withdrawal symptoms.Inclusion criteriaClinical trials between 2000 and 2022 used exercise protocols of any intensity for smoking cessation, in current smokers or recent quitters of both genders, aged 18–70, without severe diseases and pregnancy. Mental disorders were not excluded, as exercise can improve mental health status. Therefore, it may be as effective among people with mental health issues as the general population in preventing nicotine cravings and supporting abstinence.MethodsFour databases (PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, and Medline) were searched for papers in English using the terms “nicotine replacement therapy’, “exercise,” and “smoking cessation.” Titles and abstracts were screened for potentially eligibility before full texts were reviewed. Sample size, gender, study duration, and age was then extracted. The certainty of the evidence was assessed using Joanna Briggs Institute’s (JBI’s) GRADE approach.ResultsSeventeen studies were identified with a total of 3,191 participants. Three studies are not a randomised control study. There was moderate-high quality evidence that exercise can aid NRT in promoting smoking cessation in the short term. Several studies reported temporary reductions in cravings; however, only one trial reported a decrease in cigarette consumption due to exercise intervention and one dem...

Chen, X, Chamoli, U, Fogel, H & Diwan, AD 2022, 'Clinicians’ perceptions around discectomy surgery for lumbar disc herniation: a survey of orthopaedic and neuro-surgeons in Australia and New Zealand', Archives of Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery, vol. 143, no. 1, pp. 189-201.
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INTRODUCTION: Understanding practice-based differences in treatment of lumbar disc herniations (LDHs) is vital for reducing unwarranted variation in the delivery of spine surgical health care. Identifying factors that influence surgeons' decision-making will offer useful insights for developing the most cost-effective and safest surgical strategy as well as developing surgeon education materials for common lumbar pathologies. This study was to capture any variation in techniques used by surgeons in Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) region, and perceived complications of different surgical procedures for primary and recurrent LDH (rLDH). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Web-based survey study was emailed to orthopaedic and neurosurgeons who routinely performed spinal surgery in ANZ from Decmber 20, 2018 to February 20, 2020. The response data were analyzed to assess for differences based on geography, practice setting, speciality, practice experience, practice length, and operative volume. RESULTS: Invitations were sent to 150 surgeons; 96 (64%) responded. Most surgeons reported microdiscectomy as their surgical technique of choice for primary LDH (73%) and the first rLDH (72%). For the second rLDH, the preferred choice for most surgeons was fusion surgery (82%). A surgeon's practice setting (academic/private/hybrid) was a statistically significant factor in what surgical procedure was chosen for the first rLDH (P = 0.014). When stratifying based on surgeon experience, there were statisfically significant differences based on the annual volume of spine surgeries performed (perceived reherniation rates following primary discectomy, P = 0.013; perceived reherniation rates following revision surgeries, P = 0.017; perceived intraoperative complications rates following revision surgeries, P = 0.016) and based on the annual volume of lumbar discectomies performed (perceived reherniation rates following revision surgeries, P = 0.022; perceived intraoperative complications ...

Cheng, J, Li, C, Ying, Y, Lv, J, Qu, X, McGowan, E, Lin, Y & Zhu, X 2022, 'Metformin Alleviates Endometriosis and Potentiates Endometrial Receptivity via Decreasing VEGF and MMP9 and Increasing Leukemia Inhibitor Factor and HOXA10', Frontiers in Pharmacology, vol. 13, p. 750208.
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Background: Endometriosis affects endometrial receptivity, a key factor for successful embryo implantation. Metformin treatment is associated with alleviating the symptoms of endometriosis; however the mechanism of metformin action is unclear. Neoangiogenesis plays an important role in the development and recurrence of endometriosis. In addition, the leukemia inhibitor factor (LIF) and HOXA10 genes are also distinguishing markers of endometriosis (decrease) and endometrial receptivity (increase). This study investigated the therapeutic potentials of metformin and the underlying mechanism using an in vivo rat endometriosis model.Methods: Female Wistar albino mature rats with experimentally induced endometriosis were used in this study. Metformin was administered at doses of 100 mg/kg/d and 200 mg/kg/d. The volume of endometriotic implants was assessed. The protein and mRNA expression of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), the endometrial receptivity markers, LIF and HOXA10, were measured in the endometrium of rats with endometriosis.Results: Metformin treatment significantly suppressed the growth of endometriotic implants. Further, the expression of VEGF and MMP-9 protein and mRNA in endometriotic implants were significantly reduced. Metformin also significantly upregulated LIF and HOXA10 expression in endometrium from rats with endometriosis. The inhibitory effect of metformin on the growth of endometriotic implants, VEGF and MMP-9, and upregulating effect on LIF and HOXA10, was optimal at a dose of 100 mg/kg/d.Conclusion: Our in vivo data demonstrates that metformin treatment alleviates endometriosis and potentiates endometrial receptivity. The underlying mechanisms are associated with decreased expressio...

Chepurin, D, Chamoli, U & Diwan, AD 2022, 'Bony Stress and Its Association With Intervertebral Disc Degeneration in the Lumbar Spine: A Systematic Review of Clinical and Basic Science Studies', Global Spine Journal, vol. 12, no. 5, pp. 964-979.
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Study Design: Translational review encompassing basic science and clinical evidence. Objectives: Multiple components of the lumbar spine interact during its normal and pathological function. Bony stress in the lumbar spine is recognized as a factor in the development of pars interarticularis defect and stress fractures, but its relationship with intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration is not well understood. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review to examine the relationship between bony stress and IVD degeneration. Methods: Online databases Scopus, PubMed and MEDLINE via OVID were searched for relevant studies published between January 1980-February 2020, using PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses) guidelines. Two authors independently analyzed the data, noting characteristics and biases in various studies. Results: Thirty-two articles were included in the review: 8 clinical studies, 9 finite element modeling studies, 3 in-vivo biomechanical testing studies, and 12 in-vitro biomechanical testing studies. Of the 32 articles, 19 supported, 4 rejected and 9 made no conclusion on the hypothesis that there is a positive associative relationship between IVD degeneration and bony stress. However, sufficient evidence was not available to confirm or reject a causal relationship. Conclusions: Most studies suggest that the prevalence of IVD degeneration increases in the presence of bony stress; whether a causal relationship exists is unclear. The literature recommends early diagnosis and clinical suspicion of IVD degeneration and bony stress. Longitudinal studies are required to explore causal relationships between IVD degeneration a...

Chiscano, MC & Darcy, S 2022, 'An accessible and inclusive public transportation management response to COVID-19 through a co-creation process with people with disability. The case of Metro Barcelona', Research in Transportation Business & Management, vol. 45, pp. 100880-100880.
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The literature on digitalization and accessibility changes to public transport in response to the COVID-19 pandemic is limited. This paper reports on the urban public transport measures against COVID-19 launched by a Spanish transportation operator, TMB (Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona), to ensure safe journeys where digitalization of services have been intensified. This study responds to the current trend whereby transport operators are quickly digitalizing their transportation services as a response to COVID-19. The outcome of the research is to apply contemporary academic theory to assist transportation managers in designing and enhancing transportation services for this group during the COVID-19 pandemic. While transport operators have improved their services to better address the needs of PwD, these changes are far from universal in approach. At the end of 2020, as part of an academic–industry collaboration with a Spanish transportation operator, 12 PwD, six transport staff members, and two representatives of two disability advocacy associations took part in an inclusive urban transportation research project in the city of Barcelona using the service-dominant (S–D) logic co-creation process with PwD through a comparative approach. Specifically, we assessed the value outcome perceived by PwD in their Metro experience when resources resulting from the co-creation process were digital (Study 1) and when they were a combination of digital and non-digital (Study 2). To examine the PwD experience, a qualitative methodology was employed that incorporated online focus groups, ethnographic techniques and post-experience surveys with participants. Study 2 indicted better outcomes and explained how ensuring the appropriate combination of digital and non-digital resource allocation for PwD can improve the public transport experience. Our findings can be used by public transport policymakers for enhancing accessibility to improve public transport experien...

Conduit, C, Mak, B, Qu, W, Lulio, JD, Burder, R, Bressel, M, Cusick, T, Dhillon, HM, Lourenço, RDA, Underhill, C, Torres, J, Crumbaker, M, Honeyball, F, Linton, A, Allen, R, Davis, ID, Clark, SJ, Horvath, LG & Mahon, KL 2022, 'GUIDE: a randomised non-comparative phase II trial of biomarker-driven intermittent docetaxel versus standard-of-care docetaxel in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (clinical trial protocol)', Therapeutic Advances in Medical Oncology, vol. 14, pp. 175883592210924-175883592210924.
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Objective: To determine the efficacy and safety of intermittent docetaxel chemotherapy guided by circulating methylated glutathione S-transferase Pi-1 ( mGSTP1) in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). Patients and Methods: GUIDE (NCT04918810) is a randomised, two-arm, non-comparative phase-2 trial recruiting 120 patients at six Australian centres. Patients with Prostate Cancer Working Group-3 defined metastatic CRPC who are commencing docetaxel 75 mg/m2 q3w will be pre-screened for detectable mGSTP1 at baseline ± following two cycles of treatment. Those with detectable plasma mGSTP1 at baseline that becomes undetectable after two cycles of chemotherapy will be eligible for GUIDE. Prior to Cycle 4 of docetaxel, these patients are randomised 2:1 to one of two treatment arms: Arm A (cease docetaxel and reinstitute if mGSTP1 becomes detectable) or Arm B (continue docetaxel 75 mg/m2 q3w in accordance with clinician’s usual practice). The primary endpoint is radiographic progression-free survival. Secondary endpoints include time on treatment holidays, safety, patient-reported outcomes, overall survival, health resource use, and cost associated with treatment. Enrolment commenced November 2021. Results and Conclusion: The results of this trial will generate data on the clinical utility of mGSTP1 as a novel biomarker to guide treatment de-escalation in metastatic CRPC.

Coyne, JOC, Coutts, AJ, Newton, RU & Haff, GG 2022, 'The Current State of Subjective Training Load Monitoring: Follow-Up and Future Directions', Sports Medicine - Open, vol. 8, no. 1.
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AbstractThis article addresses several key issues that have been raised related to subjective training load (TL) monitoring. These key issues include how TL is calculated if subjective TL can be used to model sports performance and where subjective TL monitoring fits into an overall decision-making framework for practitioners. Regarding how TL is calculated, there is conjecture over the most appropriate (1) acute and chronic period lengths, (2) smoothing methods for TL data and (3) change in TL measures (e.g., training stress balance (TSB), differential load, acute-to-chronic workload ratio). Variable selection procedures with measures of model-fit, like the Akaike Information Criterion, are suggested as a potential answer to these calculation issues with examples provided using datasets from two different groups of elite athletes prior to and during competition at the 2016 Olympic Games. Regarding using subjective TL to model sports performance, further examples using linear mixed models and the previously mentioned datasets are provided to illustrate possible practical interpretations of model results for coaches (e.g., ensuring TSB increases during a taper for improved performance). An overall decision-making framework for determining training interventions is also provided with context given to where subjective TL measures may fit within this framework and the determination if subjective measures are needed with TL monitoring for different sporting situations. Lastly, relevant practical recommendations (e.g., using validated scales and training coaches and athletes in their use) are provided to ensure subjective TL monitoring is used as effectively as possible along with recommendations for future research.

Cranfield, CG, Le Brun, AP, Garcia, A, Cornell, BA & Holt, SA 2022, 'Langmuir-Schaefer Deposition to Create an Asymmetrical Lipopolysaccharide Sparsely Tethered Lipid Bilayer', Methods in Molecular Biology, vol. 2402, pp. 21-30.
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Because they are firmly anchored to a noble metal substrate, tethered bilayer lipid membranes (tBLMs) are considerably more robust than supported lipid bilayers such as black lipid membranes (BLMs) (Cranfield et al. Biophys J 106:182-189, 2014). The challenge to rapidly create asymmetrical tBLMs that include a lipopolysaccharide outer leaflet for bacterial model membrane research can be overcome by the use of a Langmuir-Schaefer deposition protocol. Here, we describe the procedures required to assemble and test asymmetric lipopolysaccharide (LPS) tethered lipid bilayers.

Crook, A, Jacobs, C, Newton-John, T & McEwen, A 2022, 'Toward genetic counseling practice standards for diagnostic testing in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia', Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Degeneration, vol. 23, no. 7-8, pp. 562-574.
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Objective: Genetic counseling and diagnostic genetic testing are considered part of the multidisciplinary care of individuals with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). We aimed to investigate the ideal components of genetic counseling for ALS/FTD diagnostic testing amongst various stakeholders using an online, modified Delphi survey. Methods: Experts in genetic counseling and testing for ALS/FTD were purposively then snowball recruited and included genetic health professionals, health professionals outside of genetics and consumer experts (patients, relatives, and staff representatives from ALS/FTD support organizations). First-round items were informed by two systematic literature reviews and qualitative interviews with patients and families who had experienced diagnostic testing. Analysis of each round informed the development of the subsequent round and the final results. Results: Forty-six experts participated in the study, 95.65% completed both rounds. After round one, items were updated based on participant responses and were presented again for consensus in round two. After round two, a high level of consensus (≥80% agreement) was achieved on 16 items covering various topics related to genetic counseling service delivery, before and after diagnostic testing is facilitated. Conclusions: Genetic counseling for individuals with ALS/FTD and their families should include the provision of client-centered counseling, education and support throughout. The items developed are adaptable to varied healthcare settings and may inform a standard of genetic counseling practice for health professionals who facilitate testing and counseling discussions. This area of work is timely, given demand for testing is likely to increase as more genotype-driven clinical trials become available.

Crook, A, Jacobs, C, Newton‐John, T & McEwen, A 2022, 'Genetic counseling and diagnostic genetic testing for familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and/or frontotemporal dementia: A qualitative study of client experiences', Journal of Genetic Counseling, vol. 31, no. 5, pp. 1206-1218.
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AbstractGenetic counseling and diagnostic genetic testing is part of the multidisciplinary care of people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, commonly called motor neurone disease, MND) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). We explored client experiences of genetic counseling and diagnostic testing to inform the care of future families. Semi‐structured interviews with individuals with ALS/MND/FTD or their relatives were conducted. The study was designed to include a wide variety of participants with varying disease status and abilities. Genetic counseling and diagnostic testing experiences were explored using interpretive description methodology. Bioecological theory was used as the framework for the reflexive thematic analysis. Eighteen individuals with ALS/MND/FTD or their relatives from 13 Australian families participated. Three themes were identified: sharing knowledge, (un)supportive care, and ‘circumstance is everything’. Consistent with bioecological theory, one’s genetic counseling experience was informed by individual circumstances, time, and proximal factors. These informed the level of information and support required in the genetic counseling process. Although some client circumstances cannot be changed, efforts could be made to enhance genetic counseling experiences by improving interactions between the client and their care team. Some clients may benefit from further discussions regarding the familial implications of genetic testing, and greater support with family communication. Clients’ needs were derived from the data and will contribute to genetic counseling consensus guidelines.

Crook, A, Jacobs, C, Newton-John, T, O’Shea, R & McEwen, A 2022, 'Genetic counseling and testing practices for late-onset neurodegenerative disease: a systematic review', Journal of Neurology, vol. 269, no. 2, pp. 676-692.
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Objective

To understand contemporary genetic counseling and testing practices for late-onset neurodegenerative diseases (LONDs), and identify whether practices address the internationally accepted goals of genetic counseling: interpretation, counseling, education, and support.

Methods

Four databases were systematically searched for articles published from 2009 to 2020. Peer-reviewed research articles in English that reported research and clinical genetic counseling and testing practices for LONDs were included. A narrative synthesis was conducted to describe different practices and map genetic counseling activities to the goals. Risk of bias was assessed using the Qualsyst tool. The protocol was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42019121421).

Results

Sixty-one studies from 68 papers were included. Most papers focused on predictive testing (58/68) and Huntington's disease (41/68). There was variation between papers in study design, study population, outcomes, interventions, and settings. Although there were commonalities, novel and inconsistent genetic counseling practices were identified. Eighteen papers addressed all four goals of genetic counseling.

Conclusion

Contemporary genetic counseling and testing practices for LONDs are varied and informed by regional differences and the presence of different health providers. A flexible, multidisciplinary, client- and family-centered care continues to emerge. As genetic testing becomes a routine part of care for patients (and their relatives), health providers must balance their limited time and resources with ensuring clients are safely and effectively counseled, and all four genetic counseling goals are addressed. Areas of further research include diagnostic and reproductive genetic counseling/testing practices, evaluations of novel approaches to care, and the role and use of different health providers in practice.

Dang, HP, Chen, H, Dargaville, TR & Tuch, BE 2022, 'Cell delivery systems: Toward the next generation of cell therapies for type 1 diabetes', Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, vol. 26, no. 18, pp. 4756-4767.
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AbstractImmunoprotection and oxygen supply are vital in implementing a cell therapy for type 1 diabetes (T1D). Without these features, the transplanted islet cell clusters will be rejected by the host immune system, and necrosis will occur due to hypoxia. The use of anti‐rejection drugs can help protect the transplanted cells from the immune system; yet, they also may have severe side effects. Cell delivery systems (CDS) have been developed for islet transplantation to avoid using immunosuppressants. CDS provide physical barriers to reduce the immune response and chemical coatings to reduce host fibrotic reaction. In some CDS, there is architecture to support vascularization, which enhances oxygen exchange. In this review, we discuss the current clinical and preclinical studies using CDS without immunosuppression as a cell therapy for T1D. We find that though CDS have been demonstrated for their ability to support immunoisolation of the grafted cells, their functionality has not been fully optimized. Current advanced methods in clinical trials demonstrate the systems are partly functional, physically complicated to implement or inefficient. However, modifications are being made to overcome these issues.

Dang, TD, Hoang, D & Nguyen, DN 2022, 'Trust-Based Scheduling Framework for Big Data Processing with MapReduce', IEEE Transactions on Services Computing, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 279-293.
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Security and privacy have become a great concern in cloud computing platforms in which users risk the leakage of their private data. The leakage can happen while the data is at rest (in storage), in processing, or on moving within a cloud or between different cloud infrastructures, e.g., from private to public clouds. This paper focuses on protecting data "in processing". For big data applications, the MapReduce framework has been proven as an efficient solution and has been widely deployed, e.g., in healthcare and business data analysis. In this article, we propose a trust-based framework for MapReduce in big data processing tasks. Specifically, we first quantify and propose to assign the sensitive values for data and trust values for map and reduce slots. We then compute the trust value of each resource employed in the big data processing tasks. Depending on the data's sensitivity level of a task, the task requires a given level of trust (i.e., higher sensitive data requires servers/slots with higher trust level). The MapReduce scheduling problem is then formulated as the maximum weighted matching problem of a bipartite graph that aims to maximize the total trust value over all possible assignments subject to various trust requirement of different tasks. The problem is known to be NP-hard. To tackle it, we observe that within a computing node (VM), slots share the same trust value granted from the secured transformation phase. This helps reduce the number of slot nodes of a weight bipartite graph. Leveraging this fact, we propose an efficient heuristic algorithm that achieves 94.7% of the optimal solution obtained via exhaustive search. Extensive simulations show that the trust-based scheduling scheme provides much higher protection for data sensitivity while ensuring good performance for big data applications.

Darcy, S, Maxwell, H, Grabowski, S & Onyx, J 2022, 'Artistic Impact: From Casual and Serious Leisure to Professional Career Development in Disability Arts', Leisure Sciences, vol. 44, no. 4, pp. 514-533.
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© 2019, © 2019 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All forms of arts participation are likely to lead to positive outcomes, but the nature and reach of these outcomes will differ. While arts programs have increasingly found favor in disability communities, these programs historically have been oriented toward therapeutic outcomes. They have not been taken seriously in terms of artistic outputs, the deeper benefits for participants, or potential wider societal impact. At the same time, there is anecdotal evidence of increasingly sophisticated artistic engagement involving artists with disability that are gaining wider public attention, popularity, and enabling a serious leisure experience for the artist with the opportunity for professional artistic career development. This article demonstrates how disability arts projects enable opportunities for casual leisure, serious leisure, and professional artistic engagement and examines the resultant social impact for each. To do this we investigate the characteristics and outcomes of three projects through an abductive research design involving a comparative qualitative case-based approach.

Darmarajan, T, Paudel, KR, Candasamy, M, Chellian, J, Madheswaran, T, Sakthivel, LP, Goh, BH, Gupta, PK, Jha, NK, Devkota, HP, Gupta, G, Gulati, M, Singh, SK, Hansbro, PM, Oliver, BGG, Dua, K & Chellappan, DK 2022, 'Autoantibodies and autoimmune disorders in SARS-CoV-2 infection: pathogenicity and immune regulation', Environmental Science and Pollution Research, vol. 29, no. 36, pp. 54072-54087.
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Davidoff, DF, Benn, DE, Field, M, Crook, A, Robinson, BG, Tucker, K, De Abreu Lourenco, R, Burgess, JR & Clifton-Bligh, RJ 2022, 'Surveillance Improves Outcomes for Carriers of SDHB Pathogenic Variants: A Multicenter Study', The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, vol. 107, no. 5, pp. e1907-e1916.
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Abstract Context Carriers of succinate dehydrogenase type B (SDHB) pathogenic variants (PVs) are at risk of pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma (PPGL) from a young age. It is widely recommended carriers enter a surveillance program to detect tumors, but there are limited studies addressing outcomes of surveillance protocols for SDHB PV carriers. Objective The purpose of this study was to describe surveillance-detected (s-d) tumors in SDHB PV carriers enrolled in a surveillance program and to compare their outcomes to probands. Methods This was a multicenter study of SDHB PV carriers with at least 1 surveillance episode (clinical, biochemical, imaging) in Australian genetics clinics. Data were collected by both retrospective and ongoing prospective follow-up. Median duration of follow-up was 6.0 years. Results 181 SDHB PV carriers (33 probands and 148 nonprobands) were assessed. Tumors were detected in 20% of nonprobands undergoing surveillance (age range 9-76 years). Estimated 10-year metastasis-free survival was 66% for probands and 84% for nonprobands with s-d tumors (P = .027). S-d tumors were smaller than those in probands (median 27 mm vs 45 mm respectively, P = .001). Tumor size ≥40 mm was associated with progression to metastatic disease (OR 16.9, 95% CI 2.3-187.9, P = .001). Patients with s-d tumors had lower mortality compared to probands: 10-year overall survival was 79% for probands and 100% for nonprobands (P = .029). ...

Dennis, J, Tyrer, JP, Walker, LC, Michailidou, K, Dorling, L, Bolla, MK, Wang, Q, Ahearn, TU, Andrulis, IL, Anton-Culver, H, Antonenkova, NN, Arndt, V, Aronson, KJ, Freeman, LEB, Beckmann, MW, Behrens, S, Benitez, J, Bermisheva, M, Bogdanova, NV, Bojesen, SE, Brenner, H, Castelao, JE, Chang-Claude, J, Chenevix-Trench, G, Clarke, CL, Kristensen, VN, Sahlberg, KK, Børresen-Dale, A-L, Gram, IT, Engebråten, O, Naume, B, Geisler, J, Alnæs, GIG, Collée, JM, Lacey, J, Martinez, E, Couch, FJ, Cox, A, Cross, SS, Czene, K, Devilee, P, Dörk, T, Dossus, L, Eliassen, AH, Eriksson, M, Evans, DG, Fasching, PA, Figueroa, J, Fletcher, O, Flyger, H, Fritschi, L, Gabrielson, M, Gago-Dominguez, M, García-Closas, M, Giles, GG, González-Neira, A, Guénel, P, Hahnen, E, Haiman, CA, Hall, P, Hollestelle, A, Hoppe, R, Hopper, JL, Howell, A, Clarke, C, Carpenter, J, Marsh, D, Scott, R, Baxter, R, Yip, D, Davis, A, Pathmanathan, N, Simpson, P, Graham, D, Sachchithananthan, M, Campbell, I, de Fazio, A, Fox, S, Kirk, J, Lindeman, G, Milne, R, Southey, M, Spurdle, A, Thorne, H, Jager, A, Jakubowska, A, John, EM, Johnson, N, Jones, ME, Jung, A, Kaaks, R, Keeman, R, Khusnutdinova, E, Kitahara, CM, Ko, Y-D, Kosma, V-M, Koutros, S, Kraft, P, Kristensen, VN, Kubelka-Sabit, K, Kurian, AW, Lacey, JV, Lambrechts, D, Larson, NL, Linet, M, Ogrodniczak, A, Mannermaa, A, Manoukian, S, Margolin, S, Mavroudis, D, Milne, RL, Muranen, TA, Murphy, RA, Nevanlinna, H, Olson, JE, Olsson, H, Park-Simon, T-W, Perou, CM, Peterlongo, P, Plaseska-Karanfilska, D, Pylkäs, K, Rennert, G, Saloustros, E, Sandler, DP, Sawyer, EJ, Schmidt, MK, Schmutzler, RK, Shibli, R, Smeets, A, Soucy, P, Southey, MC, Swerdlow, AJ, Tamimi, RM, Taylor, JA, Teras, LR, Terry, MB, Tomlinson, I, Troester, MA, Truong, T, Vachon, CM, Wendt, C, Winqvist, R, Wolk, A, Yang, XR, Zheng, W, Ziogas, A, Simard, J, Dunning, AM, Pharoah, PDP & Easton, DF 2022, 'Rare germline copy number variants (CNVs) and breast cancer risk', Communications Biology, vol. 5, no. 1, p. 65.
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AbstractGermline copy number variants (CNVs) are pervasive in the human genome but potential disease associations with rare CNVs have not been comprehensively assessed in large datasets. We analysed rare CNVs in genes and non-coding regions for 86,788 breast cancer cases and 76,122 controls of European ancestry with genome-wide array data. Gene burden tests detected the strongest association for deletions in BRCA1 (P = 3.7E−18). Nine other genes were associated with a p-value < 0.01 including known susceptibility genes CHEK2 (P = 0.0008), ATM (P = 0.002) and BRCA2 (P = 0.008). Outside the known genes we detected associations with p-values < 0.001 for either overall or subtype-specific breast cancer at nine deletion regions and four duplication regions. Three of the deletion regions were in established common susceptibility loci. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first genome-wide analysis of rare CNVs in a large breast cancer case-control dataset. We detected associations with exonic deletions in established breast cancer susceptibility genes. We also detected suggestive associations with non-coding CNVs in known and novel loci with large effects sizes. Larger sample sizes will be required to reach robust levels of statistical significance.

Dickson, TJ & Darcy, S 2022, 'Next Steps in Mega-Sport Event Legacy Research: Insights from a Four Country Volunteer Management Study', Event Management, vol. 26, no. 8, pp. 1849-1854.
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Mega-sport event legacy research methodologically is dominated by what should be considered single case studies often omitting the importance of the socially situated nature of events and tourism. The extant research has often been conducted during, or soon after, an event purporting to be about legacies. Thus, they are more about impacts than the legacy, or what remains. By interrogating the only known database of volunteer responses from four Olympic and Paralympic Games across four countries, this research note demonstrates the next steps that are required to design legacies research that will have methodological, theoretical, and practical significance for host and nonhost communities alike.

Ding, L, Razavi Bazaz, S, Asadniaye Fardjahromi, M, McKinnirey, F, Saputro, B, Banerjee, B, Vesey, G & Ebrahimi Warkiani, M 2022, 'A modular 3D printed microfluidic system: a potential solution for continuous cell harvesting in large-scale bioprocessing', Bioresources and Bioprocessing, vol. 9, no. 1.
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AbstractMicrofluidic devices have shown promising applications in the bioprocessing industry. However, the lack of modularity and high cost of testing and error limit their implementation in the industry. Advances in 3D printing technologies have facilitated the conversion of microfluidic devices from research output to applicable industrial systems. Here, for the first time, we presented a 3D printed modular microfluidic system consisting of two micromixers, one spiral microfluidic separator, and one microfluidic concentrator. We showed that this system can detach and separate mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from microcarriers (MCs) in a short time while maintaining the cell’s viability and functionality. The system can be multiplexed and scaled up to process large volumes of the industry. Importantly, this system is a closed system with no human intervention and is promising for current good manufacturing practices. Graphical Abstract

Ding, L, Razavi Bazaz, S, Hall, T, Vesey, G & Ebrahimi Warkiani, M 2022, 'Giardia purification from fecal samples using rigid spiral inertial microfluidics', Biomicrofluidics, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 014105-014105.
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Giardia is one of the most common waterborne pathogens causing around 200 × 106 diarrheal infections annually. It is of great interest to microbiological research as it is among the oldest known eukaryotic cells. Purifying Giardia from fecal samples for both research and diagnostic purposes presents one of the most difficult challenges. Traditional purification methods rely on density gradient centrifugation, membrane-based filtration, and sedimentation methods, which suffer from low recovery rates, high costs, and poor efficiency. Here, we report on the use of microfluidics to purify Giardia cysts from mouse feces. We propose a rigid spiral microfluidic device with a trapezoidal cross section to effectively separate Giardia from surrounding debris. Our characterizations reveal that the recovery rate is concentration-dependent, and our proposed device can achieve recovery rates as high as 75% with 0.75 ml/min throughput. Moreover, this device can purify Giardia from extremely turbid samples to a level where cysts are visually distinguishable with just one round of purification. This highly scalable and versatile 3D printed microfluidic device is then capable of further purifying or enhancing the recovery rate of the samples by recirculation. This device also has the potential to purify other gastrointestinal pathogens of similar size, and throughput can be significantly increased by parallelization.

Ding, L, Razavi Bazaz, S, Shrestha, J, A. Amiri, H, Mas-hafi, S, Banerjee, B, Vesey, G, Miansari, M & Ebrahimi Warkiani, M 2022, 'Rapid and Continuous Cryopreservation of Stem Cells with a 3D Micromixer', Micromachines, vol. 13, no. 9, pp. 1516-1516.
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Cryopreservation is the final step of stem cell production before the cryostorage of the product. Conventional methods of adding cryoprotecting agents (CPA) into the cells can be manual or automated with robotic arms. However, challenging issues with these methods at industrial-scale production are the insufficient mixing of cells and CPA, leading to damage of cells, discontinuous feeding, the batch-to-batch difference in products, and, occasionally, cross-contamination. Therefore, the current study proposes an alternative way to overcome the abovementioned challenges; a highly efficient micromixer for low-cost, continuous, labour-free, and automated mixing of stem cells with CPA solutions. Our results show that our micromixer provides a more homogenous mixing of cells and CPA compared to the manual mixing method, while the cell properties, including surface markers, differentiation potential, proliferation, morphology, and therapeutic potential, are well preserved.

Donovan, C, Kim, RY, Galvao, I, Jarnicki, AG, Brown, AC, Jones‐Freeman, B, Gomez, HM, Wadhwa, R, Hortle, E, Jayaraman, R, Khan, H, Pickles, S, Sahu, P, Chimankar, V, Tu, X, Ali, MK, Mayall, JR, Nguyen, DH, Budden, KF, Kumar, V, Schroder, K, Robertson, AAB, Cooper, MA, Wark, PAB, Oliver, BG, Horvat, JC & Hansbro, PM 2022, 'Aim2 suppresses cigarette smoke‐induced neutrophil recruitment, neutrophil caspase‐1 activation and anti‐Ly6G‐mediated neutrophil depletion', Immunology & Cell Biology, vol. 100, no. 4, pp. 235-249.
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AbstractIncreased inflammasome responses are strongly implicated in inflammatory diseases; however, their specific roles are incompletely understood. Therefore, we sought to examine the roles of nucleotide‐binding oligomerization domain–like receptor (NLR) family, pyrin domain–containing 3 (NLRP3) and absent in melanoma‐2 (AIM2) inflammasomes in cigarette smoke–induced inflammation in a model of experimental chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We targeted NLRP3 with the inhibitor MCC950 given prophylactically or therapeutically and examined Aim2−/− mice in cigarette smoke–induced experimental COPD. MCC950 treatment had minimal effects on disease development and/or progression. Aim2−/− mice had increased airway neutrophils with decreased caspase‐1 levels, independent of changes in lung neutrophil chemokines. Suppressing neutrophils with anti‐Ly6G in experimental COPD in wild‐type mice reduced neutrophils in bone marrow, blood and lung. By contrast, anti‐Ly6G treatment in Aim2−/− mice with experimental COPD had no effect on neutrophils in bone marrow, partially reduced neutrophils in the blood and had no effect on neutrophils or neutrophil caspase‐1 levels in the lungs. These findings identify that following cigarette smoke exposure, Aim2 is important for anti‐Ly6G–mediated depletion of neutrophils, suppression of neutrophil recruitment and mediates activation of caspase‐1 in neutrophils.

dos Remedios, C, Cranfield, C, Whelan, D, Cox, C, Shearwin, K, Ho, J, Allen, T, Shibuya, R, Hibino, E, Hayashi, K & Li, A 2022, 'A special issue of the Australian society for Biophysics', Biophysical Reviews, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 1-2.
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Dower, A, Mulcahy, M, Maharaj, M, Chen, H, Lim, CED, Li, Y & Sheridan, M 2022, 'Surgical decompression for malignant cerebral oedema after ischaemic stroke', Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, vol. 2022, no. 11, p. CD014989.
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BACKGROUND: Large territory middle cerebral artery (MCA) ischaemic strokes account for around 10% of all ischaemic strokes and have a particularly devastating prognosis when associated with malignant oedema. Progressive cerebral oedema starts developing in the first 24 to 48 hours of stroke ictus with an associated rise in intracranial pressure. The rise in intracranial pressure may eventually overwhelm compensatory mechanisms leading to a cascading secondary damage to surrounding unaffected parenchyma. This downward spiral can rapidly progress to death or severe neurological disability. Early decompressive craniectomy to relieve intracranial pressure and associated tissue shift can help ameliorate this secondary damage and improve outcomes. Evidence has been accumulating of the benefit of early surgical decompression in stroke patients. Earlier studies have excluded people above the age of 60 due to associated poor outcomes; however, newer trials have included this patient subgroup. This review follows a Cochrane Review published in 2012. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effectiveness of surgical decompression in people with malignant oedema after ischaemic stroke with regard to reduction in mortality and improved functional outcome. We also aimed to examine the adverse effects of surgical decompression in this patient cohort. SEARCH METHODS: We searched the Cochrane Stroke Group Trials Register, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL; 2022, Issue 7 of 12), MEDLINE Ovid, Embase Ovid, Web of Science Core Collection, Scopus databases, ClinicalTrials.gov, and the WHO ICTRP to July 2022. We also reviewed the reference lists of relevant articles. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included randomised controlled trials (RCTs) comparing decompressive craniectomy with medical management to best medical management alone for people with malignant cerebral oedema after MCA ischaemic stroke. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors independently screened...

Eager, D, Ishac, K, Zhou, S & Hossain, I 2022, 'Investigating the Knuckleball Effect in Soccer Using a Smart Ball and Training Machine', Sensors, vol. 22, no. 11, pp. 3984-3984.
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The term knuckleball in sporting jargon is used to describe a ball that has been launched with minimal spin, resulting in a trajectory that is erratic and unpredictable. This phenomenon was first observed in baseball (where the term originated) and has since been observed in other sports. While knuckleball has long fascinated the scientific community, the bulk of research has primarily focused on knuckleball as it occurs in baseball. Following the changes in the design of the soccer ball after the 2006 World Cup, knuckleball and ball aerodynamics were exploited by soccer players. This research examined the properties of a knuckleball in the sport of soccer. We designed and evaluated a system that could reproduce the knuckleball effect on soccer balls based on previous theories and characteristics outlined in our literature review. Our system is comprised of the Adidas miCoach Smart Ball, a companion smart phone app for data collection, a ball-launching machine with programmable functions, and a video-based tracking system and Tracker motion analysis software. The results from the testing showed that our system was successfully able to produce knuckleball behaviour on the football in a highly consistent manner. This verified the dynamic models of knuckleball that we outline. While a small portion of the data showed some lateral deviations (zig-zag trajectory), this erratic and unpredictable trajectory was much smaller in magnitude when compared to examples seen in professional games. The sensor data from the miCoach app and trajectory data from the Tracker motion analysis software, showed that the knuckleballs were consistently reproduced in-line with theoretical dynamics.

Eager, D, Zhou, S, Hossain, I, Ishac, K & Halkon, B 2022, 'Research on Impact Attenuation Characteristics of Greyhound Racing Track Padding for Injury Prevention', Vibration, vol. 5, no. 3, pp. 497-512.
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To reduce injuries to greyhounds caused by collisions with fixed racing track objects such as the outside fence or the catching pen structures, padding systems are widely adopted. However, there are currently neither recognised standards nor minimum performance thresholds for greyhound industry padding systems. This research is the first of its kind to investigate the impact attenuation characteristics of different padding systems for use within the greyhound racing industry for the enhanced safety and welfare of racing greyhounds. A standard head injury criterion (HIC) meter was used to examine padding impact attenuation performance based on the maximum g-force, HIC level and the HIC duration. Initially, greyhound racing speed was recorded and analysed with the IsoLynx system to understand the potential impact hazard to greyhounds during racing which indicates the necessity for injury prevention with padding. A laboratory test was subsequently conducted to compare the impact attenuation performance of different kinds of padding. Since padding impact attenuation characteristics are also affected by the installation and substrate, onsite testing was conducted to obtain the padding system impact attenuation performance in actual greyhound racing track applications. The test results confirm that the padding currently used within the greyhound industry is adequate for the fence but inadequate when used for rigid structural members such as the catching pen gate supports. Thus, increasing the padding thickness is strongly recommended if it is used at such locations. More importantly, it is also recommended that, after the installation of padding on the track, its impact attenuation characteristics be tested according to the methodology developed herein to verify the suitability for protecting greyhounds from injury.

Eager, D, Zhou, S, Ishac, K, Hossain, I, Richards, A & Sharwood, LN 2022, 'Investigation into the Trampoline Dynamic Characteristics and Analysis of Double Bounce Vibrations', Sensors, vol. 22, no. 8, pp. 2916-2916.
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Double bounce is an unusual and potentially very hazardous phenomenon that most trampoline users may have experienced, yet few would have really understood how and why it occurs. This paper provides an in-depth investigation into the double bounce. Firstly, the static and dynamic characteristics of a recreational trampoline are analysed theoretically and verified through experiments. Then, based on the developed trampoline dynamic model, double bounce simulation is conducted with two medicine balls released with different time delays. Through simulation, the process of double bounce is presented in detail, which comprehensively reveals how energy is transferred between users during double bounce. Furthermore, the effect of release time delay on double bounce is also presented. Finally, we conducted an experiment which produced similar results to the simulation and validated the reliability of the trampoline dynamic model and double bounce theoretical analysis.

Elsemary, MT, Maritz, MF, Smith, LE, Warkiani, M, Bandara, V, Napoli, S, Barry, SC, Coombs, JT & Thierry, B 2022, 'Inertial Microfluidic Purification of CAR‐T‐Cell Products', Advanced Biology, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. e2101018-e2101018.
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AbstractChimeric antigen receptor T (CAR‐T) cell therapy is rapidly becoming a frontline cancer therapy. However, the manufacturing process is time‐, labor‐ and cost‐intensive, and it suffers from significant bottlenecks. Many CAR‐T products fail to reach the viability release criteria set by regulators for commercial cell therapy products. This results in non‐recoupable costs for the manufacturer and is detrimental to patients who may not receive their scheduled treatment or receive out‐of‐specification suboptimal formulation. It is demonstrated here that inertial microfluidics can, within minutes, efficiently deplete nonviable cells from low‐viability CAR‐T cell products. The percentage of viable cells increases from 40% (SD ± 0.12) to 71% (SD ± 0.09) for untransduced T cells and from 51% (SD ± 0.12) to 71% (SD ± 0.09) for CAR‐T cells, which meets the clinical trials’ release parameters. In addition, the processing of CAR‐T cells formulated in CryStor yields a 91% reduction in the amount of the cryoprotectant dimethyl sulfoxide. Inertial microfluidic processing has no detrimental effects on the proliferation and cytotoxicity of CAR‐T cells. Interestingly, ≈50% of T‐regulatory and T‐suppressor cells are depleted, suggesting the potential for inertial microfluidic processing to tune the phenotypical composition of T‐cell products.

Etchart, MG, Anderson, LL, Ametovski, A, Jones, PM, George, AM, Banister, SD & Arnold, JC 2022, 'In vitro evaluation of the interaction of the cannabis constituents cannabichromene and cannabichromenic acid with ABCG2 and ABCB1 transporters', European Journal of Pharmacology, vol. 922, pp. 174836-174836.
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Fang, XM, Liu, Y, Wang, J, Zhang, X, Wang, L, Zhang, L, Zhang, HP, Liu, L, Huang, D, Liu, D, Deng, K, Luo, FM, Wan, HJ, Li, WM, Wang, G & Oliver, BG 2022, 'Endogenous Adenosine 5′-Monophosphate, But Not Acetylcholine or Histamine, is Associated with Asthma Control, Quality of Life, and Exacerbations', Lung, vol. 200, no. 5, pp. 579-589.
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OBJECTIVE: Endogenous adenosine 5'-monophosphate (AMP), acetylcholine (ACh), and histamine (HA) are known to be important in bronchial contraction, but their clinical relevance to asthma is poorly understood. We aimed to quantify endogenous AMP, ACh, and HA in induced sputum samples and explore their relationships with asthma control and exacerbations. METHODS: 20 healthy subjects and 112 asthmatics underwent clinical assessment, sputum induction, and blood sampling. The level of asthma control was determined by the asthma control test (ACT) questionnaire. Asthma exacerbation was evaluated according to the criteria of the American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society. Levels of AMP, ACh, and HA in sputum were measured by liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry. IL-β, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-8, IL-13, IL-17A, TNF-α, IFN-γ, and macrophage-derived chemokine (MDC) were also measured. RESULTS: Compared to healthy controls, asthmatics had higher levels of HA, lower levels of ACh, and similar levels of AMP in induced sputum samples. Compared to controlled asthma (n = 54), uncontrolled asthma (n = 58) showed higher AMP levels (P = 0.002), but similar HA and ACh levels. AMP was negatively correlated with ACT scores (r = - 0.348) and asthma quality of life questionnaire scores (r = - 0.188) and positively correlated with blood monocytes percentage (r = 0.195), sputum MDC (r = 0.214), and IL-6 levels (r = 0.196). Furthermore, AMP was associated with an increased risk of exacerbations in the preceding year. CONCLUSION: Endogenous AMP, but not ACh or HA, was associated with asthma control, quality of life, and exacerbations in the previous year, which indicates that AMP could be a clinically useful biomarker of asthma.

Favaloro, J, Bryant, C, Abadir, E, Yang, S, Gardiner, S, Nassif, N, Sedger, L, Joshua, D & Ho, PJ 2022, 'OAB-023: Single-cell analysis reveals disease induced perturbations of CD8+T-cell subsets in the bone marrow and peripheral blood of newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients', Clinical Lymphoma Myeloma and Leukemia, vol. 22, pp. S14-S14.
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Fernandez, TT, Johnston, B, Gross, S, Cozic, S, Poulain, M, Mahmodi, H, Kabakova, I, Withford, M & Fuerbach, A 2022, 'Ultrafast laser inscribed waveguides in tailored fluoride glasses: an enabling technology for mid-infrared integrated photonics devices', Scientific Reports, vol. 12, no. 1, p. 14674.
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AbstractZirconium fluoride (ZBLAN) glass, the standard material used in fiber-based mid-infrared photonics, has been re-designed to enable the fabrication of high index-contrast low-loss waveguides via femtosecond laser direct writing. We demonstrate that in contrast to pure ZBLAN, a positive index change of close to 10−2 can be induced in hybrid zirconium/hafnium (Z/HBLAN) glasses during ultrafast laser inscription and show that this can be explained by an electron cloud distortion effect that is driven by the existence of two glass formers with contrasting polarizability. High numerical aperture (NA) type-I waveguides that support a well confined 3.1 μm wavelength mode with a mode-field diameter (MFD) as small as 12 μm have successfully been fabricated. These findings open the door for the fabrication of mid-infrared integrated photonic devices that can readily be pigtailed to existing ZBLAN fibers.

Fernandez, TT, Johnston, B, Mahmodi, H, Privat, K, Kabakova, I, Gross, S, Withford, M & Fuerbach, A 2022, 'Thermally stable high numerical aperture integrated waveguides and couplers for the 3 μm wavelength range', APL Photonics, vol. 7, no. 12, pp. 126106-126106.
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The femtosecond laser direct write technique was used to fabricate mid-infrared compatible waveguide couplers into Suprasil 3001, a fused silica glass with an OH content of as low as ≤1 ppm. Smooth positive step-index change multi-scan waveguides were produced with a high index contrast of 1 × 10−2, measured directly using quadriwave lateral shearing interferometry. Waveguides were annealed at 400 °C for 15 h and found to be highly stable, with only &lt;5% reduction in positive index change. Brillouin microscopy and cathodoluminescence are introduced as novel tools that complement Raman mapping and electron microscopy for the investigation of the laser-induced structural changes within the glass matrix, and it was found that although a uniform step index profile is observed across the entire guiding region, different physical mechanisms underpin the index change in the upper and lower sections of the waveguide cross-section, respectively. Waveguides were optimized for mode-matching with optical fibers for the 3.2 μm wavelength range, and evanescent four-port directional couplers with coupling ratios ranging from 5:95 to 50:50 were designed and fabricated. This demonstration opens the door to the development of fully integrated and temperature-stable hybrid chip/fiber systems for the important mid-infrared spectral range.

Ferreira, D, Kochovska, S, Honson, A, Phillips, J & Currow, D 2022, 'Patients’ and their caregivers’ experiences with regular, low-dose, sustained-release morphine for chronic breathlessness associated with COPD: a qualitative study', BMJ Open Respiratory Research, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. e001210-e001210.
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IntroductionRegular, low-dose, sustained-release morphine is effective in reducing chronic breathlessness in people with advanced disease, particularly in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Despite experiencing a reduction in breathlessness, some patients choose not to continue long-term treatment.AimThis study aimed to explore patients’ and caregivers’ experiences with regular, low-dose, sustained-release morphine for chronic breathlessness associated with COPD.MethodsA qualitative study embedded in a randomised controlled trial (RCT) of regular low-dose, sustained-release morphine for chronic breathlessness for people with COPD and modified Medical Research Council breathlessness scale 3–4. After completing the RCT or withdrawing, patients and their caregivers were invited to participate in interviews in their homes focused on their experiences with the trial medication while still blinded to the arm to which they had been allocated. Data analysis used a constant comparative method informed by the principles of grounded theory.ResultsThirteen patients and nine caregivers participated. Four themes were identified: (1) Receptivity and knowledge; (2) Function as a priority; (3) Harmful and helpful side effects; and (4) Therapy-centred aspects. The concept of ‘net effect’ emerged from the interplay between themes, subthemes and the decision to continue taking sustained-release morphine during the trial and after trial completion.ConclusionClinicians’ support and preconceived ideas about morphine influence the decision to commence sustained-release morphine. The hope for functional improvement is the great driver influencing positively the de...

Fetherstonhaugh, D, Rayner, J-A, Solly, K, Beattie, E, Harrington, A, Jeon, Y-H, Moyle, W & Parker, D 2022, 'Teaching the care of older people in Australian nursing schools: Survey findings', Collegian, vol. 29, no. 6, pp. 873-879.
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Foley, C, Darcy, S, Hergesell, A, Almond, B, McDonald, M & Brett, E 2022, 'University-based sport and social clubs and their contribution to the development of graduate attributes', Active Learning in Higher Education, pp. 146978742211276-146978742211276.
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An important measure of the success of a tertiary education programme is the attributes that graduates possess at the completion of their studies. Universities have sought to address this issue by developing formal curriculum and programmes such as internships and work-integrated learning. However, little is known about how university-based extracurricular activities contribute to graduate attributes. The purpose of this study is to explore participation in extracurricular activities from a student perspective. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 22 student leaders of university-based sporting, social and academic clubs. Data collection and analysis were guided by a qualitative approach to thematic analysis. The findings indicate that students developed a range of graduate attributes in areas such as such as leadership, teamwork, communication and resilience. The theory, communities of practice, is used to interpret the participants’ experiences which was found to coalesce around their social interactions and relations. The study concludes with several recommendations for universities to create greater opportunities for their students to participate in extracurricular activities.

Foster, PS, Tay, HL & Oliver, BG 2022, 'Deficiency in the zinc transporter ZIP8 impairs epithelia renewal and enhances lung fibrosis', Journal of Clinical Investigation, vol. 132, no. 11, p. e160595.
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Although aging and lung injury are linked to the development of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), the underlying pathognomonic processes predisposing to fibrotic lesions remain largely unknown. A deficiency in the ability of type 2 alveolar epithelial cell (AEC2) progenitors to regenerate and repair the epithelia has been proposed as a critical factor. In this issue of the JCI, Liang et al. identify a deficiency in the zinc transporter SLC39A8 (ZIP8) in AEC2s and in the subsequent activation of the sirtuin SIRT1 that predisposes to decreased AEC2 renewal capacity and enhanced lung fibrosis in both IPF and aging lungs. Interestingly, the authors demonstrate the efficacy of modulating dietary zinc levels, suggesting the need for clinical trials to evaluate the therapeutic potential of dietary supplementation and the development of pharmacological modulation of the Zn/ZIP8/SIRT1 axis for treatment.

Francis, I, Shrestha, J, Paudel, KR, Hansbro, PM, Warkiani, ME & Saha, SC 2022, 'Recent advances in lung-on-a-chip models', Drug Discovery Today, vol. 27, no. 9, pp. 2593-2602.
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Francisco, MC, Lane, H, Luckett, T, Disalvo, D, Pond, D, Mitchell, G, Chenoweth, L, Phillips, J, Beattie, E, Luscombe, G, Goodall, S & Agar, M 2022, 'Facilitated case conferences on end-of-life care for persons with advanced dementia—a qualitative study of interactions between long-term care clinicians and family members', Age and Ageing, vol. 51, no. 2.
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Abstract Background Prognostic uncertainty and the need for proxy decision-making owing to cognitive impairment in advanced dementia, adds complexity to end-of-life care planning within the long-term care setting. Case conferences provide a structure to facilitate difficult conversations and an opportunity for family and clinicians to engage in prospective planning, and reach agreement on goals of end-of-life care. Objective To explore interactions between multidisciplinary healthcare clinicians and families during facilitated case conferences on end-of-life care for residents with advanced dementia. Methods A qualitative approach was used. Transcripts of audio-recorded case conferences facilitated by a trained registered nurse were coded by two independent researchers and analysed inductively. Transcripts were selected from an available pool until thematic saturation was reached. Emerging themes were confirmed with the wider research group. Results Thematic saturation was reached after 25 transcripts. An overarching theme concerned the ways in which clinicians and families bridged medical and person-centred perspectives. Subthemes included: details of day-to-day care versus establishing overall goals of care; expression of emotion versus retreat from emotion; and missed opportunities versus expressed cues. Successful facilitation served to ‘bridge the gap’ between family and clinicians. ...

Ghalehno, AD, Saeedi, M, Bazaz, SR, Asadi, P, EbrahimiWarkiani, M & Yazdian-Robati, R 2022, 'Nano aptasensors for detection of streptomycin: A review', Nanomedicine Journal, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 24-33.
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This review provides a literature update of the progress in optical and electrochemical aptasensors for the detection of streptomycin in human sera and animal-derived foods. The uncontrolled use of antibiotics and rising resistance to them, has created a global problem. Therefore, the detection and quantitation of antibiotics, i.e., streptomycin by robust, easy, and sensitive methods is in great demand. Among different strategies, new analytical methods for the efficient detection and quantitative determination of streptomycin have been developed. Aptasensors or aptamer-based biosensors have attracted more attention due to their unique recognition, simple fabrication, and significant selectivity, sensitivity, and specificity. Advantages of aptasensors will be highlighted in this review, with emphasis on methodological technique and specific properties of aptasensors developed for STR determination. In this review paper, we will focus on the recent development of aptasensors for streptomycin detection, considering the papers summarized in the data bases scopus and google scholar covering the period of time from 2013 till 2021.

Ghalehno, AD, Saeedi, M, Bazaz, SR, Asadi, P, EbrahimiWarkiani, M & Yazdian-Robati, R 2022, 'Nano aptasensors for detection of streptomycin: A review', NANOMEDICINE JOURNAL, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 24-33.
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This review provides a literature update of the progress in optical and electrochemical aptasensors for the detection of streptomycin in human sera and animal-derived foods. The uncontrolled use of antibiotics and rising resistance to them, has created a global problem. Therefore, the detection and quantitation of antibiotics, i.e., streptomycin by robust, easy, and sensitive methods is in great demand. Among different strategies, new analytical methods for the efficient detection and quantitative determination of streptomycin have been developed. Aptasensors or aptamer-based biosensors have attracted more attention due to their unique recognition, simple fabrication, and significant selectivity, sensitivity, and specificity. Advantages of aptasensors will be highlighted in this review, with emphasis on methodological technique and specific properties of aptasensors developed for STR determination. In this review paper, we will focus on the recent development of aptasensors for streptomycin detection, considering the papers summarized in the data bases scopus and google scholar covering the period of time from 2013 till 2021.

Goodswen, SJ, Kennedy, PJ & Ellis, JT 2022, 'Compilation of parasitic immunogenic proteins from 30 years of published research using machine learning and natural language processing', Scientific Reports, vol. 12, no. 1.
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AbstractThe World Health Organisation reported in 2020 that six of the top 10 sources of death in low-income countries are parasites. Parasites are microorganisms in a relationship with a larger organism, the host. They acquire all benefits at the host’s expense. A disease develops if the parasitic infection disrupts normal functioning of the host. This disruption can range from mild to severe, including death. Humans and livestock continue to be challenged by established and emerging infectious disease threats. Vaccination is the most efficient tool for preventing current and future threats. Immunogenic proteins sourced from the disease-causing parasite are worthwhile vaccine components (subunits) due to reliable safety and manufacturing capacity. Publications with ‘subunit vaccine’ in their title have accumulated to thousands over the last three decades. However, there are possibly thousands more reporting immunogenicity results without mentioning ‘subunit’ and/or ‘vaccine’. The exact number is unclear given the non-standardised keywords in publications. The study aim is to identify parasite proteins that induce a protective response in an animal model as reported in the scientific literature within the last 30 years using machine learning and natural language processing. Source code to fulfil this aim and the vaccine candidate list obtained is made available.

Green, A, Hosie, A, Phillips, JL, Kochovska, S, Noble, B, Brassil, M, Cumming, A, Lawlor, PG, Bush, SH, Davis, JM, Edwards, L, Hunt, J, Wilcock, J, Phillipson, C, Wesley Ely, E, Parr, C, Lovell, M & Agar, M 2022, 'Stakeholder perspectives of a pilot multicomponent delirium prevention intervention for adult patients with advanced cancer in palliative care units: A behaviour change theory-based qualitative study', Palliative Medicine, vol. 36, no. 8, pp. 1273-1284.
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Background: Theory-based and qualitative evaluations in pilot trials of complex clinical interventions help to understand quantitative results, as well as inform the feasibility and design of subsequent effectiveness and implementation trials. Aim: To explore patient, family, clinician and volunteer (‘stakeholder’) perspectives of the feasibility and acceptability of a multicomponent non-pharmacological delirium prevention intervention for adult patients with advanced cancer in four Australian palliative care units that participated in a phase II trial, the ‘PRESERVE pilot study’. Design: A trial-embedded qualitative study via semi-structured interviews and directed content analysis using Michie’s Behaviour Change Wheel and the Theoretical Domains Framework. Setting/participants: Thirty-nine people involved in the trial: nurses ( n = 17), physicians ( n = 6), patients ( n = 6), family caregivers ( n = 4), physiotherapists ( n = 3), a social worker, a pastoral care worker and a volunteer. Results: Participants’ perspectives aligned with the ‘capability’, ‘opportunity’ and ‘motivation’ domains of the applied frameworks. Of seven themes, three were around the alignment of the delirium prevention intervention with palliative care (intervention was considered routine care; intervention aligned with the compassionate and collaborative culture of palliative care; and differing views of palliative care priorities influenced perspectives of the intervention) and four were about study processes more directly related to adherence to the intervention (shared knowledge increased engagement with the intervention; impact of the intervention checklist on attention, delivery and d...

Gupta, G, Oliver, BG, Dua, K, Singh, A & MacLoughlin, R 2022, 'Preface', Microbiome in Inflammatory Lung Diseases, pp. v-vi.

Gye, A, Goodall, S & De Abreu Lourenco, R 2022, 'A Systematic Review of Health Technology Assessments of Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cell Therapies in Young Compared With Older Patients', Value in Health, vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 47-58.
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Halkett, GKB, Berg, MN, Daudu, D, Dhillon, HM, Koh, E-S, Ownsworth, T, Lobb, E, Phillips, J, Langbecker, D, Agar, M, Hovey, E, Moorin, R & Nowak, AK 2022, 'Supportive care of patients diagnosed with high grade glioma and their carers in Australia', Journal of Neuro-Oncology, vol. 157, no. 3, pp. 475-485.
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Abstract Purpose This study aimed to: determine the supportive care available for Australian patients with High Grade Glioma (HGG) and their carers; identify service gaps; and inform changes needed to implement guidelines and Optimal Care Pathways. Methods This cross-sectional online survey recruited multidisciplinary health professionals (HPs) who were members of the Cooperative Trials Group for Neuro-Oncology involved in management of patients diagnosed with HGG in Australian hospitals. Descriptive statistics were calculated. Fisher's exact test was used to explore differences between groups. Results 42 complete responses were received. A majority of MDT meetings were attended by a: neurosurgeon, radiation oncologist, medical oncologist, radiologist, and care coordinator. Less than 10% reported attendance by a palliative care nurse; physiotherapist; neuropsychologist; or speech therapist. Most could access referral pathways to a cancer care coordinator (76%), neuropsychologist (78%), radiation oncology nurse (77%), or psycho-oncologist (73%), palliative care (93–100%) and mental health professionals (60–85%). However, few routinely referred to an exercise physiologist (10%), rehabilitation physician (22%), dietitian (22%) or speech therapist (28%). Similarly, routine referrals to specialist mental health services were not standard practice. Nearly all HPs (94%) reported HGG patients were advised to present to their GP for pre-existing conditions/comorbidities; however, most HPs took responsibility (≤ 36% referred to GP) for social issues, mental health, symptoms, cancer complications, and treatment side-effects.

Hanaei, S, Takian, A, Majdzadeh, R, Maboloc, CR, Grossmann, I, Gomes, O, Milosevic, M, Gupta, M, Shamshirsaz, AA, Harbi, A, Burhan, AM, Uddin, LQ, Kulasinghe, A, Lam, C-M, Ramakrishna, S, Alavi, A, Nouwen, JL, Dorigo, T, Schreiber, M, Abraham, A, Shelkovaya, N, Krysztofiak, W, Ebrahimi Warkiani, M, Sellke, F, Ogino, S, Barba, FJ, Brand, S, Vasconcelos, C, Salunke, DB & Rezaei, N 2022, 'Emerging Standards and the Hybrid Model for Organizing Scientific Events During and After the COVID-19 Pandemic', Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness, vol. 16, no. 3, pp. 1172-1177.
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AbstractSince the beginning of 2020, the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has dramatically influenced almost every aspect of human life. Activities requiring human gatherings have either been postponed, canceled, or held completely virtually. To supplement lack of in-person contact, people have increasingly turned to virtual settings online, advantages of which include increased inclusivity and accessibility and a reduced carbon footprint. However, emerging online technologies cannot fully replace in-person scientific events. In-person meetings are not susceptible to poor Internet connectivity problems, and they provide novel opportunities for socialization, creating new collaborations and sharing ideas. To continue such activities, a hybrid model for scientific events could be a solution offering both in-person and virtual components. While participants can freely choose the mode of their participation, virtual meetings would most benefit those who cannot attend in-person due to the limitations. In-person portions of meetings should be organized with full consideration of prevention and safety strategies, including risk assessment and mitigation, venue and environmental sanitation, participant protection and disease prevention, and promoting the hybrid model. This new way of interaction between scholars can be considered as a part of a resilience system, which was neglected previously and should become a part of routine practice in the scientific community.

Handley, M, Parker, D, Bunn, F & Goodman, C 2022, 'A qualitative comparison of care home staff and palliative care specialists’ experiences of providing end of life care to people living and dying with dementia in care homes in two countries: A focus group study', Palliative Medicine, vol. 36, no. 1, pp. 114-123.
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Background: Palliative care for people with dementia dying in care homes is an important aspect of long-term care. Whilst there is consensus about the principles of palliative care, less is known about how care home staff negotiate and influence decisions around end of life and how organisational context shapes that process. Aim: To explore the views and experiences of care home staff and palliative care specialists on end of life care in care homes and understand how care home settings affected palliative care provision in England and Australia. Design/participants: Eight focus groups in Australia and England with care home staff and palliative care specialists ( n = 49). Reflexive thematic analysis was undertaken. Findings: Australian participants reported collaboration between care home staff, visiting professions and family members though case conferences. English participants discussed resident-focussed involvement from specialists that was less formally organised. Negotiating roles and responsibilities in end of life care; the importance of relationships to overcome deficiencies in formal processes; and the legitimacy and authority of advance care planning at times of crisis were recurring themes. The organisation and embedding of end of life care in processes and practices of care homes differed; this closely linked to care home procedures in Australia but was less apparent in England. Conclusion: In both countries, partnership working was recognised and valued as key to effective palliative care. Work that enables care home staff to identify challenges with visiting professionals, such as agreeing priorities for care and negotiating their shared responsibi...

Hartmann, LM, Garcia, A, Deplazes, E & Cranfield, CG 2022, 'Determining the Pore Size of Multimeric Peptide Ion Channels Using Cation Conductance Measures of Tethered Bilayer Lipid Membranes', pp. 81-92.
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Hassanli, N, Small, J & Darcy, S 2022, 'The representation of Airbnb in newspapers: a critical discourse analysis', Current Issues in Tourism, vol. 25, no. 19, pp. 3186-3198.
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Since its emergence in 2008, there has been a growing interest in the meaning of Airbnb to various stakeholders. Using Critical Discourse Analysis, this paper examines the representation of Airbnb in the local newspapers of Sydney communities with the largest share of Airbnb listings. Analysis of these texts revealed a strong message concerning the costs to community and issues related to government regulation. Underlying the themes was a discourse of individual host rights to profit versus community wellbeing. The discourse of the industry as a sharing, welcoming form of hospitality was also evident, as was the persuasive language of technology to create an innovative platform and industry. We question the language used and the inherent meaning, arguing that Airbnb can be seen in many ways to fit the bill of ‘platform capitalism’ and ‘techno-chauvinism’, with the fallout being externalities for the communities in which Airbnb resides.

He, F, Mahmud, MAP, Kouzani, AZ, Anwar, A, Jiang, F & Ling, SH 2022, 'An Improved SLIC Algorithm for Segmentation of Microscopic Cell Images.', Biomed. Signal Process. Control., vol. 73, pp. 103464-103464.
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Hesam‐Shariati, N, Chang, W, Wewege, MA, McAuley, JH, Booth, A, Trost, Z, Lin, C, Newton‐John, T & Gustin, SM 2022, 'The analgesic effect of electroencephalographic neurofeedback for people with chronic pain: A systematic review and meta‐analysis', European Journal of Neurology, vol. 29, no. 3, pp. 921-936.
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AbstractBackgroundElectroencephalographic (EEG) neurofeedback has been utilized to regulate abnormal brain activity associated with chronic pain.MethodsIn this systematic review, we synthesized the evidence from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to evaluate the effect of EEG neurofeedback on chronic pain using random effects meta‐analyses. Additionally, we performed a narrative review to explore the results of non‐randomized studies. The quality of included studies was assessed using Cochrane risk of bias tools, and the GRADE system was used to rate the certainty of evidence.ResultsTen RCTs and 13 non‐randomized studies were included. The primary meta‐analysis on nine eligible RCTs indicated that although there is low confidence, EEG neurofeedback may have a clinically meaningful effect on pain intensity in short‐term. Removing the studies with high risk of bias from the primary meta‐analysis resulted in moderate confidence that there remained a clinically meaningful effect on pain intensity. We could not draw any conclusion from the findings of non‐randomized studies, as they were mostly non‐comparative trials or explorative case series. However, the extracted data indicated that the neurofeedback protocols in both RCTs and non‐randomized studies mainly involved the conventional EEG neurofeedback approach, which targeted reinforcing either alpha or sensorimotor rhythms and suppressing theta and/or beta bands on one brain region at a time. A posthoc analysis of RCTs utilizing the conventional approach resulted in a clinically meaningful effect estimate for pain intensity.ConclusionAlthough there is promising evidence on the analgesic effect of EEG neurofeedback, further studies with larger sample si...

Hoang, D & Hoang, S 2022, 'Deep learning - cancer genetics and application of deep learning to cancer oncology', Vietnam Journal of Science and Technology, vol. 60, no. 6, pp. 885-928.
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Arguably the human body has been one of the most sophisticated systems we encounter but until now we are still far from understanding its complexity. We have been trying to replicate human intelligence by way of artificial intelligence but with limited success. We have discovered the molecular structure in terms of genetics, performed gene editing to change an organism’s DNA and much more, but their translatability into the field of oncology has remained limited. Conventional machine learning methods achieved some degree of success in solving problems that we do not have an explicit algorithm. However, they are basically shallow learning methods, not rich enough to discover and extract intricate features that represent patterns in the real environment. Deep learning has exceeded human performance in pattern recognition as well as strategic games and are powerful for dealing with many complex problems. High-throughput sequencing and microarray techniques have generated vast amounts of data and allowed the comprehensive study of gene expression in tumor cells. The application of deep learning with molecular data enables applications in oncology with information not available from clinical diagnosis. This paper provides fundamental concepts of deep learning, an essential knowledge of cancer genetics, and a review of applications of deep learning to cancer oncology. Importantly, it provides an insightful knowledge of deep learning and an extensive discussion on its challenges. The ultimate purpose is to germinate ideas and facilitate collaborations between cancer biologists and deep learning researchers to address challenging oncological problems using advanced deep learning technologies.

Hosie, A, Kochovska, S, Ries, N, Gilmore, I, Parker, D, Sinclair, C, Sheehan, C, Collier, A, Caplan, GA, Visser, M, Xu, X, Lobb, E, Sheahan, L, Brown, L, Lee, W, Sanderson, CR, Amgarth-Duff, I, Green, A, Edwards, L & Agar, MR 2022, 'Older Persons’ and Their Caregivers’ Perspectives and Experiences of Research Participation With Impaired Decision-Making Capacity: A Scoping Review', The Gerontologist, vol. 62, no. 2, pp. e112-e122.
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Abstract Background and Objectives Human research ethics statements support the equitable inclusion of diverse groups. Yet older people are underrepresented in clinical research, especially those with impaired decision-making capacity. The aim of this study was to identify the perspectives and experiences of older persons and their caregivers of research participation with impaired decision-making capacity. Research Design and Methods Scoping review of the literature and online sources in January–February 2019 (updated June 2020) according to Joanna Briggs Institute methodology and PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews. English-language peer-reviewed research articles and Australian online narratives were included. Data were tabulated and narratively synthesized. Results From 4,171 database records and 93 online resources, 22 articles (2000–2019, 82% United States, 16 first authors) and one YouTube webinar (2018) were initially included; updated searches yielded an additional article (2020) and YouTube webinar (2020). Studies were heterogeneous in terminology, methods, and foci, with hypothetical scenarios, quantitative analyses, and examination of proxy consent predominating. Participants (N = 7,331) were older persons (71%), caregivers of older persons with dementia/cognitive impairment (23%), and older persons with dementia/cognitive impairment (6%). Synthesis identified 2 themes: willingness to participate and decision-making approaches. Discussion and Implications ...

Hossain, KR, Escobar Bermeo, JD, Warton, K & Valenzuela, SM 2022, 'New Approaches and Biomarker Candidates for the Early Detection of Ovarian Cancer', Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, vol. 10, p. 819183.
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Howarth, DJ, Cohen, DD, McLean, BD & Coutts, AJ 2022, 'Establishing the Noise: Interday Ecological Reliability of Countermovement Jump Variables in Professional Rugby Union Players', Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, vol. 36, no. 11, pp. 3159-3166.
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Abstract Howarth, DJ, Cohen, DD, McLean, BD, and Coutts, AJ. Establishing the noise: interday ecological reliability of countermovement jump variables in professional rugby union players. J Strength Cond Res 36(11): 3159–3166, 2022—The purpose of this study was to examine the interday “ecological” reliability of a wide range of ground reaction force–derived countermovement jump (CMJ) variables. Thirty-six male, professional rugby union players performed 3 CMJs on 4 separate days over an 8-day period during the first week of preseason. We calculated reliability for 86 CMJ variables across 5 interday combinations using 2 criteria: mean output across 3 jump trials (Mean3) and single output from the highest jump (BestJH). Interday coefficient of variation (CV) of the 86 variables in each CMJ phase, for Mean3 and BestJH, respectively, ranged between concentric = 2–11% and 2–13%; eccentric = 1–45% and 1–107%; and landing = 4–32% and 6–45%. Mean3 interday CV was lower in all 86 variables across every interday combination, compared with BestJH. CVs were lower in our cohort than previous studies, particularly for eccentric phase variables. There was no meaningful difference between interday conditions, suggesting any 2-day combination conducted within the first 8 days of preseason, represents a measure of “noise.” We did not apply arbitrary reliability “cut-offs” used in previous work (e.g., CV <10%); therefore, our analysis provides reference reliability for a wide range of CMJ variables. However, we recommend that practitioners assess reliability in their athletes, as it is likely to be environment, protocol, and cohort specific.

Huang, T, Huang, X, Li, H, Qi, J, Wang, N, Xu, Y, Zeng, Y, Xiao, X, Liu, R, Chan, YL, Oliver, BG, Yi, C, Li, D & Chen, H 2022, 'Maternal Cigarette Smoke Exposure Exaggerates the Behavioral Defects and Neuronal Loss Caused by Hypoxic-Ischemic Brain Injury in Female Offspring', Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience, vol. 16, p. 818536.
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ObjectiveHypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy affects ∼6 in 1,000 preterm neonates, leading to significant neurological sequela (e.g., cognitive deficits and cerebral palsy). Maternal smoke exposure (SE) is one of the common causes of neurological disorders; however, female offspring seems to be less affected than males in our previous study. We also showed that maternal SE exaggerated neurological disorders caused by neonatal hypoxic-ischemic brain injury in adolescent male offspring. Here, we aimed to examine whether female littermates of these males are protected from such insult.MethodsBALB/c dams were exposed to cigarette smoke generated from 2 cigarettes twice daily for 6 weeks before mating, during gestation and lactation. To induce hypoxic-ischemic brain injury, half of the pups from each litter underwent left carotid artery occlusion, followed by exposure to 8% oxygen (92% nitrogen) at postnatal day (P) 10. Behavioral tests were performed at P40–44, and brain tissues were collected at P45.ResultsMaternal SE worsened the defects in short-term memory and motor function in females with hypoxic-ischemic injury; however, reduced anxiety due to injury was observed in the control offspring, but not the SE offspring. Both hypoxic-ischemic injury and maternal SE caused significant loss of neuronal cells and synaptic proteins, along with increased oxidative stress and inflammatory responses.ConclusionOxidative stress and inflammatory response due to maternal SE may be the mechanism of worsened neurological outcomes by hypoxic-ischemic brain injury in females, which was similar to their male littermates shown in our previous study.

Huang, Z, Zhao, R, Leung, FHF, Banerjee, S, Lee, TT-Y, Yang, D, Lun, DP-K, Lam, K-M, Zheng, Y-P & Ling, SH 2022, 'Joint Spine Segmentation and Noise Removal From Ultrasound Volume Projection Images With Selective Feature Sharing.', IEEE Trans. Medical Imaging, vol. 41, no. 7, pp. 1610-1624.
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Volume Projection Imaging from ultrasound data is a promising technique to visualize spine features and diagnose Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis. In this paper, we present a novel multi-task framework to reduce the scan noise in volume projection images and to segment different spine features simultaneously, which provides an appealing alternative for intelligent scoliosis assessment in clinical applications. Our proposed framework consists of two streams: 1) A noise removal stream based on generative adversarial networks, which aims to achieve effective scan noise removal in a weakly-supervised manner, i.e., without paired noisy-clean samples for learning; 2) A spine segmentation stream, which aims to predict accurate bone masks. To establish the interaction between these two tasks, we propose a selective feature-sharing strategy to transfer only the beneficial features, while filtering out the useless or harmful information. We evaluate our proposed framework on both scan noise removal and spine segmentation tasks. The experimental results demonstrate that our proposed method achieves promising performance on both tasks, which provides an appealing approach to facilitating clinical diagnosis.

Impellizzeri, FM, Jeffries, AC, Weisman, A, Coutts, AJ, McCall, A, McLaren, SJ & Kalkhoven, J 2022, 'The ‘training load’ construct: Why it is appropriate and scientific', Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, vol. 25, no. 5, pp. 445-448.
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A recent paper called for the abandonment of the term load (and training load) when used outside its mechanical meaning, claiming it is 'unscientific' and 'breaches scientific principles.' In this article, we explain why its use does not breach any scientific principles and we clarify the process of labelling, conceptualising and operationalising a construct. Training load is simply a label attributed to a higher-order construct overarching other interrelated sub-dimensions. This multi-level structure provides a framework (nomological network) to support the research process and also practical applications. Load is a word, and therefore cannot be 'unscientific'. The 'use' or 'misuse' of words and terms entirely depends upon definitions that should be based on current understanding. Misuse occurs when a term is decontextualised or interpreted according to a unilateral perspective. The field of mechanics does not have a monopoly on the term load (or other common terms such as work, stress and fatigue), which are legitimately used in many scientific areas and with various meanings. The 'obligation' to rely on terms abiding by the Système International d'Unités (SI) when describing a construct is inappropriate. The SI relates to how we can measure, not describe training load; i.e., SI is relevant to its operational and not its constitutive (descriptive) definition. Discussions regarding shared and standardised descriptions and definitions are more relevant than discussions about discarding terms in sport and exercise science. Researchers (and practitioners) can continue to use the term training load as it does not breach any scientific principles.

Irmawati, Chai, R, Basari & Gunawan, D 2022, 'Optimizing CNN Hyperparameters for Blastocyst Quality Assessment in Small Datasets', IEEE Access, vol. 10, pp. 88621-88631.
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Jeffries, AC, Marcora, SM, Coutts, AJ, Wallace, L, McCall, A & Impellizzeri, FM 2022, 'Development of a Revised Conceptual Framework of Physical Training for Use in Research and Practice', Sports Medicine, vol. 52, no. 4, pp. 709-724.
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A conceptual framework has a central role in the scientific process. Its purpose is to synthesize evidence, assist in understanding phenomena, inform future research and act as a reference operational guide in practical settings. We propose an updated conceptual framework intended to facilitate the validation and interpretation of physical training measures. This revised conceptual framework was constructed through a process of qualitative analysis involving a synthesis of the literature, analysis and integration with existing frameworks (Banister and PerPot models). We identified, expanded, and integrated four constructs that are important in the conceptualization of the process and outcomes of physical training. These are: (1) formal introduction of a new measurable component 'training effects', a higher-order construct resulting from the combined effect of four possible responses (acute and chronic, positive and negative); (2) explanation, clarification and examples of training effect measures such as performance, physiological, subjective and other measures (cognitive, biomechanical, etc.); (3) integration of the sport performance outcome continuum (from performance improvements to overtraining); (4) extension and definition of the network of linkages (uni and bidirectional) between individual and contextual factors and other constructs. Additionally, we provided constitutive and operational definitions, and examples of theoretical and practical applications of the framework. These include validation and conceptualization of constructs (e.g., performance readiness), and understanding of higher-order constructs, such as training tolerance, when monitoring training to adapt it to individual responses and effects. This proposed conceptual framework provides an overarching model that may help understand and guide the development, validation, implementation and interpretation of measures used for athlete monitoring.

Jena, R, Vishwas, S, Kumar, R, Kaur, J, Khursheed, R, Gulati, M, Singh, TG, Vanathi, BM, Alam, A, Kumar, B, Chaitanya, MVNL, Gupta, S, Negi, P, Pandey, NK, Bhatt, S, Gupta, G, Chellappan, DK, Oliver, BG, Dua, K & Singh, SK 2022, 'Treatment strategies for HIV infection with emphasis on role of CRISPR/Cas9 gene: Success so far and road ahead', European Journal of Pharmacology, vol. 931, pp. 175173-175173.
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Advances in biotechnology have led to improving human health with number of novel approaches to mitigate life-threatening diseases such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, cancer, and neurodegenerative diseases. In the case of HIV, the damage caused by the retrovirus to the immune system leads to opportunistic infection as well as an elevated risk of autoimmune disease and cancer. Furthermore, clinical symptoms associated with the virus itself may arise. Antiretroviral drug therapy using reverse transcriptase inhibitors, protease inhibitors, fusion inhibitor, chemokine receptor 5 antagonist and integrase strand transfer inhibitors have shown promising results in treating HIV infection and available in market in the form of various dosage forms. However, they are unable to completely cure the disease because of complexity in pathogenesis of HIV. In addition, these drugs have some limitations of poor solubility, permeability or, poor receptor binding capacity. To overcome these drawbacks, many novel drug delivery systems for the drugs belonging to above mentioned categories have been developed. The possibility of treating HIV infection using CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing has been found in 2015. This provided a new area of research to the scientists who are working towards alternative treatment strategies for HIV infections. The present article describes about various treatment strategies used to treat HIV infections with special emphasis on the role of CRISPR/Cas9 gene-based technology. The potential benefits of specific epigenetic modification in the c-c chemokine receptor 5 gene (CCR5) via various delivery methods are also highlighted.

Jia, M, Gabrys, B & Musial, K 2022, 'Measuring Quadrangle Formation in Complex Networks', IEEE Transactions on Network Science and Engineering, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 538-551.
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The classic clustering coefficient and the lately proposed closure coefficient quantifies the formation of triangles from two different perspectives, with the focal node at the centre or at the end in an open triad. As many networks are naturally rich in triangles, they become standard metrics to describe and analyse networks. However, their utilities could be limited in many other types of networks, where triangles are relatively few and quadrangles are overrepresented, such as the protein-protein interaction networks, the neural networks and the food webs. Here we propose two quadrangle coefficients, i.e., the i-quad coefficient and the o-quad coefficient, to quantify quadrangle formation in networks, and we further extend them to weighted networks. Through experiments on 16 networks from six different domains, we first reveal the density distribution of the two quadrangle coefficients, and then analyse their correlations with node degree. Finally, we demonstrate that at network-level, adding the average i-quad coefficient and the average o-quad coefficient leads to significant improvement in network classification, while at node-level, the i-quad and o-quad coefficients are useful features to improve link prediction.

Jia, M, Van Alboom, M, Goubert, L, Bracke, P, Gabrys, B & Musial, K 2022, 'Encoding edge type information in graphlets', PLOS ONE, vol. 17, no. 8, pp. e0273609-e0273609.
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Graph embedding approaches have been attracting increasing attention in recent years mainly due to their universal applicability. They convert network data into a vector space in which the graph structural information and properties are maximumly preserved. Most existing approaches, however, ignore the rich information about interactions between nodes, i.e., edge attribute or edge type. Moreover, the learned embeddings suffer from a lack of explainability, and cannot be used to study the effects of typed structures in edge-attributed networks. In this paper, we introduce a framework to embed edge type information in graphlets and generate a Typed-Edge Graphlets Degree Vector (TyE-GDV). Additionally, we extend two combinatorial approaches, i.e., the colored graphlets and heterogeneous graphlets approaches to edge-attributed networks. Through applying the proposed method to a case study of chronic pain patients, we find that not only the network structure of a patient could indicate his/her perceived pain grade, but also certain social ties, such as those with friends, colleagues, and healthcare professionals, are more crucial in understanding the impact of chronic pain. Further, we demonstrate that in a node classification task, the edge-type encoded graphlets approaches outperform the traditional graphlet degree vector approach by a significant margin, and that TyE-GDV could achieve a competitive performance of the combinatorial approaches while being far more efficient in space requirements.

John, AR, Cao, Z, Chen, H-T, Martens, KE, Georgiades, M, Gilat, M, Nguyen, HT, Lewis, SJG & Lin, C-T 2022, 'Predicting the Onset of Freezing of Gait Using EEG Dynamics', Applied Sciences, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 302-302.
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Freezing of gait (FOG) severely incapacitates the mobility of patients with advanced Parkinson’s disease (PD). An accurate prediction of the onset of FOG could improve the quality of life for PD patients. However, it is imperative to distinguish the possibility of the onset of FOG from that of voluntary stopping. Our previous work demonstrated the neurological differences between the transition to FOG and voluntary stopping using electroencephalogram (EEG) signals. We employed a timed up-and-go (TUG) task to elicit FOG in PD patients. Some of these TUG tasks had an additional voluntary stopping component, where participants stopped walking based on verbal instruction to “stop”. The performance of the convolutional neural network (CNN) in identifying the transition to FOG from normal walking and the transition to voluntary stopping was explored. To the best of our knowledge, this work is the first study to propose a deep learning method to distinguish the transition to FOG from the transition to voluntary stop in PD patients. The models, trained on the EEG data from 17 PD patients who manifested FOG episodes, considering a short two-second transition window for FOG occurrence or voluntary stopping, achieved close to 75% classification accuracy in distinguishing transition to FOG from the transition to voluntary stopping or normal walking. Our results represent an important step toward advanced EEG-based cueing systems for smart FOG intervention, excluding the potential confounding of voluntary stopping.

John, AR, Singh, AK, Do, T-TN, Eidels, A, Nalivaiko, E, Gavgani, AM, Brown, S, Bennett, M, Lal, S, Simpson, AM, Gustin, SM, Double, K, Walker, FR, Kleitman, S, Morley, J & Lin, C-T 2022, 'Unraveling the Physiological Correlates of Mental Workload Variations in Tracking and Collision Prediction Tasks', IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering, vol. 30, no. 99, pp. 770-781.
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Modern work environments have extensive interactions with technology and greater cognitive complexity of the tasks, which results in human operators experiencing increased mental workload. Air traffic control operators routinely work in such complex environments, and we designed tracking and collision prediction tasks to emulate their elementary tasks. The physiological response to the workload variations in these tasks was elucidated to untangle the impact of workload variations experienced by operators. Electroencephalogram (EEG), eye activity, and heart rate variability (HRV) data were recorded from 24 participants performing tracking and collision prediction tasks with three levels of difficulty. Our findings indicate that variations in task load in both these tasks are sensitively reflected in EEG, eye activity and HRV data. Multiple regression results also show that operators' performance in both tasks can be predicted using the corresponding EEG, eye activity and HRV data. The results also demonstrate that the brain dynamics during each of these tasks can be estimated from the corresponding eye activity, HRV and performance data. Furthermore, the markedly distinct neurometrics of workload variations in the tracking and collision prediction tasks indicate that neurometrics can provide insights on the type of mental workload. These findings have applicability to the design of future mental workload adaptive systems that integrate neurometrics in deciding not just 'when' but also 'what' to adapt. Our study provides compelling evidence in the viability of developing intelligent closed-loop mental workload adaptive systems that ensure efficiency and safety in complex work environments.

Jung, MC, Chai, R, Zheng, J & Nguyen, H 2022, 'Enhanced myoelectric control against arm position change with weighted recursive Gaussian process', Neural Computing and Applications, vol. 34, no. 7, pp. 5015-5028.
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Kapeleris, J, Ebrahimi Warkiani, M, Kulasinghe, A, Vela, I, Kenny, L, Ladwa, R, O’Byrne, K & Punyadeera, C 2022, 'Clinical Applications of Circulating Tumour Cells and Circulating Tumour DNA in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer—An Update', Frontiers in Oncology, vol. 12, p. 859152.
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Despite efforts to improve earlier diagnosis of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), most patients present with advanced stage disease, which is often associated with poor survival outcomes with only 15% surviving for 5 years from their diagnosis. Tumour tissue biopsy is the current mainstream for cancer diagnosis and prognosis in many parts of the world. However, due to tumour heterogeneity and accessibility issues, liquid biopsy is emerging as a game changer for both cancer diagnosis and prognosis. Liquid biopsy is the analysis of tumour-derived biomarkers in body fluids, which has remarkable advantages over the use of traditional tumour biopsy. Circulating tumour cells (CTCs) and circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) are two main derivatives of liquid biopsy. CTC enumeration and molecular analysis enable monitoring of cancer progression, recurrence, and treatment response earlier than traditional biopsy through a minimally invasive liquid biopsy approach. CTC-derived ex-vivo cultures are essential to understanding CTC biology and their role in metastasis, provide a means for personalized drug testing, and guide treatment selection. Just like CTCs, ctDNA provides opportunity for screening, monitoring, treatment evaluation, and disease surveillance. We present an updated review highlighting the prognostic and therapeutic significance of CTCs and ctDNA in NSCLC.

Kapeleris, J, Müller Bark, J, Ranjit, S, Irwin, D, Hartel, G, Warkiani, ME, Leo, P, O'Leary, C, Ladwa, R, O'Byrne, K, Hughes, BGM & Punyadeera, C 2022, 'Prognostic value of integrating circulating tumour cells and cell-free DNA in non-small cell lung cancer', Heliyon, vol. 8, no. 7, pp. e09971-e09971.
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BACKGROUND: Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) often presents at an incurable stage, and majority of patients will be considered for palliative treatment at some point in their disease. Despite recent advances, the prognosis remains poor, with a median overall survival of 12-18 months. Liquid biopsy-based biomarkers have emerged as potential candidates for predicting prognosis and response to therapy in NSCLC patients. This pilot study evaluated whether combining circulating tumour cells and clusters (CTCs) and cell-free DNA (cfDNA) can predict progression-free survival (PFS) in NSCLC patients. METHODS: CTC and cfDNA/ctDNA from advanced stage NSCLC patients were measured at study entry (T0) and 3-months post-treatment (T1). CTCs were enriched using a spiral microfluidic chip and characterised by immunofluorescence. ctDNA was assessed using an UltraSEEK® Lung Panel. Kaplan-Meier plots were generated to investigate the contribution of the presence of CTC/CTC clusters and cfDNA for PFS. Cox proportional hazards analysis compared time to progression versus CTC/CTC cluster counts and cfDNA levels. RESULTS: Single CTCs were found in 14 out of 25 patients, while CTC clusters were found in 8 out of the 25 patients at T0. At T1, CTCs were found in 7 out of 18 patients, and CTC clusters in 1 out of the 18 patients. At T0, CTC presence and the combination of CTC cluster counts with cfDNA levels were associated with shorter PFS, p = 0.0261, p = 0.0022, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Combining CTC cluster counts and cfDNA levels could improve PFS assessment in NSCLC patients. Our results encourage further investigation on the combined effect of CTC/cfDNA as a prognostic biomarker in a large cohort of advanced stage NSCLC patients.

Karacan, I, Ben‐Nissan, B, Santos, J, Yiu, S, Bradbury, P, Valenzuela, SM & Chou, J 2022, 'In vitro testing and efficacy of poly‐lactic acid coating incorporating antibiotic loaded coralline bioceramic on Ti6Al4V implant against Staphylococcus aureus', Journal of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, vol. 16, no. 12, pp. 1149-1162.
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Biofilm formation on an implant surface is most commonly caused by the human pathogenic bacteria Staphylococcus aureus, which can lead to implant related infections and failure. It is a major problem for both implantable orthopedic and maxillofacial devices. The current antibiotic treatments are typically delivered orally or in an injectable form. They are not highly effective in preventing or removing biofilms, and they increase the risk of antibiotic resistance of bacteria and have a dose-dependent negative biological effect on human cells. Our aim was to improve current treatments via a localized and controlled antibiotic delivery-based implant coating system to deliver the antibiotic, gentamicin (Gm). The coating contains coral skeleton derived hydroxyapatite powders (HAp) that act as antibiotic carrier particles and have a biodegradable poly-lactic acid (PLA) thin film matrix. The system is designed to prevent implant related infections while avoiding the deleterious effects of high concentration antibiotics in implants on local cells including primary human adipose derived stem cells (ADSCs). Testing undertaken in this study measured the rate of S. aureus biofilm formation and determined the growth rate and proliferation of ADSCs. After 24 h, S. aureus biofilm formation and the percentage of live cells found on the surfaces of all 5%-30% (w/w) PLA-Gm-(HAp-Gm) coated Ti6Al4V implants was lower than the control samples. Furthermore, Ti6Al4V implants coated with up to 10% (w/w) PLA-Gm-(HAp-Gm) did not have noticeable Gm related adverse effect on ADSCs, as assessed by morphological and surface attachment analyses. These results support the use and application of the antibacterial PLA-Gm-(HAp-Gm) thin film coating design for implants, as an antibiotic release control mechanism to prevent implant-related infections.

Kaur, J, Gulati, M, Corrie, L, Awasthi, A, Jha, NK, Chellappan, DK, Gupta, G, MacLoughlin, R, Oliver, BG, Dua, K & Singh, SK 2022, 'Role of nucleic acid-based polymeric micelles in treating lung diseases', Nanomedicine, vol. 17, no. 25, pp. 1951-1960.
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The prevalence of lung diseases is increasing year by year and existing drug therapies only provide symptomatic relief rather than targeting the actual cause. Nucleic acids can be used as an alternative therapeutic approach owing to their potential to reform a homeostatic balance by upregulating protective genes or downregulating damaging genes. However, their inherent properties, such as poor stability, ineffective cellular uptake, negative charge and so on, hinder their clinical utility. Such limitations can be overcome by exploiting the functional chemistry of polymeric micelles (PMs) for site-specific delivery, transfection efficiency and improved stability. With this objective, the present work describes the advancements made in designing nucleic acid-based PMs for treating lung diseases followed by approaches requiring consideration for clinical applications.

Khursheed, R, Paudel, KR, Gulati, M, Vishwas, S, Jha, NK, Hansbro, PM, Oliver, BG, Dua, K & Singh, SK 2022, 'Expanding the arsenal against pulmonary diseases using surface-functionalized polymeric micelles: breakthroughs and bottlenecks', Nanomedicine, vol. 17, no. 12, pp. 881-911.
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Pulmonary diseases such as lung cancer, asthma and tuberculosis have remained one of the common challenges globally. Polymeric micelles (PMs) have emerged as an effective technique for achieving targeted drug delivery for a local as well as a systemic effect. These PMs encapsulate and protect hydrophobic drugs, increase pulmonary targeting, decrease side effects and enhance drug efficacy through the inhalation route. In the current review, emphasis has been placed on the different barriers encountered by the drugs given via the pulmonary route and the mechanism of PMs in achieving drug targeting. The applications of PMs in different pulmonary diseases have also been discussed in detail.

Kinchin, I, Edwards, L, Adrion, E, Chen, Y, Ashour, A, Leroi, I, Brugulat‐Serrat, A, Phillips, J, Masterson, F & Kochovska, S 2022, 'Care partner needs of people with neurodegenerative disorders: What are the needs, and how well do the current assessment tools capture these needs? A systematic meta‐review', International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, vol. 37, no. 7.
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AbstractObjectivesThe burden on care partners, particularly once dementia emerges, is among the greatest of all caregiving groups. This meta‐review aimed to (1) synthesis evidence on the self‐reported needs of care partners supporting people living with neurodegenerative disorders; (2) compare the needs according to care partner and care recipient characteristics; and (3) determine the face validity of existing care partner needs assessment tools.MethodsWe conducted a systematic review of reviews involving a thematic synthesis of care partner needs and differences in needs according to demographic and other characteristics. We then conducted a gap analysis by identifying the themes of needs from existing needs assessment tools specific to dementia and cross‐matching them with the needs derived from the thematic synthesis.ResultsDrawing on 17 published reviews, the identified range of needs fell into four key themes: (1) knowledge and information, (2) physical, social and emotional support, (3) care partner self‐care, and (4) care recipient needs. Needs may differ according to disease trajectory, relationship to the care recipient, and the demographic characteristics of the care partner and recipient. The ‘captured needs’ range between 8% and 66% across all the included needs assessment tools.ConclusionsCurrent tools do not fully or adequately capture the self‐identified needs of care partners of people living with neurodegenerative disorders. Given the high burden on care partners, which has been further exacerbated by the COVID‐19 (SARS CoV‐2) pandemic, the needs assessment tools should align with the self‐reported needs of care partners throughout the caregiving trajectory to better understand unmet...

Kitchin, PJ, Paramio-Salcines, JL, Darcy, S & Walters, G 2022, 'Exploring the accessibility of sport stadia for people with disability: towards the development of a Stadium Accessibility Scale (SAS)', Sport, Business and Management: An International Journal, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 93-116.
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PurposeThe aim of this paper is to synthesise existing literature on sports stadia, spectators with disabilities (SwD) and accessibility to identify themes and to highlight the gaps in the literature. This review subsequently develops two propositions that will enable research in this emerging area to further develop.Design/methodology/approachThe research was guided by two research questions: First, what does the peer reviewed evidence tell us about SwD and the accessibility of sporting stadia?; Second, how can this information be used to develop a Stadium Accessibility Scale (SAS)? The authors conducted a rapid review of the literature across three databases that identified 34 papers for synthesis.FindingsThe synthesis revealed three research themes: a focus on legislative compliance, the need to enhance resources (both physical and human) and research that focusses on moving beyond the stadium experience. The latter can be subdivided into two streams – studies that look at accessibility as a social legacy of major events and studies that seek to understand the whole journey that SwD's must make to attend sport events.Research limitations/implicationsThe study makes two key recommendations. The first is to encourage further research aligned to the HOPES framework (Paramio-Salcines et al., 2016) that explicitly recognises the importance of understanding the broader approach to the customer experience. The second is the need for the development and validation of a reliable SAS.Originali...

Koh, E-S, Moore, A, Francis, RJ, Ebert, MA, Gan, HK, Lee, ST, Lau, E, Rossi, A, Grose, A, Ng, SP, Barnes, EH, Moffat, BA, Scott, FE, Adda, L, Foroudi, F, Nowak, AK, Bailey, DL, Back, M, Lourenco, RDA & Scott, AM 2022, 'A prospective, multi-centre trial of FET-PET in glioblastoma patients - the TROG 18.06 FIG Study: results of the Nuclear Medicine and Radiation Oncology credentialing program', WFNOS 2022 Abstract Book.
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Kron, T, Bressel, M, Lonski, P, Hill, C, Mercieca-Bebber, R, Ahern, V, Lehman, M, Johnson, C, Latty, D, Ward, R, Miller, D, Banjade, D, Morriss, D, De Abreu Lourenco, R, Woodcock, J, Montgomery, R, Lehmann, J & Chua, BH 2022, 'TROG 14.04: Multicentre Study of Feasibility and Impact on Anxiety of DIBH in Breast Cancer Patients', Clinical Oncology, vol. 34, no. 9, pp. e410-e419.
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Lan, T, Hutvagner, G, Zhang, X, Liu, T, Wong, L & Li, J 2022, 'Density-based detection of cell transition states to construct disparate and bifurcating trajectories', Nucleic Acids Research, vol. 50, no. 21, pp. e122-e122.
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Abstract Tree- and linear-shaped cell differentiation trajectories have been widely observed in developmental biologies and can be also inferred through computational methods from single-cell RNA-sequencing datasets. However, trajectories with complicated topologies such as loops, disparate lineages and bifurcating hierarchy remain difficult to infer accurately. Here, we introduce a density-based trajectory inference method capable of constructing diverse shapes of topological patterns including the most intriguing bifurcations. The novelty of our method is a step to exploit overlapping probability distributions to identify transition states of cells for determining connectability between cell clusters, and another step to infer a stable trajectory through a base-topology guided iterative fitting. Our method precisely re-constructed various benchmark reference trajectories. As a case study to demonstrate practical usefulness, our method was tested on single-cell RNA sequencing profiles of blood cells of SARS-CoV-2-infected patients. We not only re-discovered the linear trajectory bridging the transition from IgM plasmablast cells to developing neutrophils, and also found a previously-undiscovered lineage which can be rigorously supported by differentially expressed gene analysis.

Larkin, BP, Nguyen, LT, Hou, M, Glastras, SJ, Chen, H, Faiz, A, Chen, J, Wang, R, Pollock, CA & Saad, S 2022, 'Low‐dose hydralazine reduces albuminuria and glomerulosclerosis in a mouse model of obesity‐related chronic kidney disease', Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, vol. 24, no. 10, pp. 1939-1949.
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AbstractAimTo determine, using a mouse model of obesity, whether low‐dose hydralazine prevents obesity‐related chronic kidney disease (CKD).MethodsFrom 8 weeks of age, male C57BL/6 mice received a high‐fat diet (HFD) or chow, with or without low‐dose hydralazine (25 mg/L) in drinking water, for 24 weeks. Biometric and metabolic variables, renal function and structural changes, renal global DNA methylation, DNA methylation profile and markers of renal fibrosis, injury, inflammation and oxidative stress were assessed.ResultsThe HFD‐fed mice developed obesity, with glucose intolerance, hyperinsulinaemia and dyslipidaemia. Obesity increased albuminuria and glomerulosclerosis, which were significantly ameliorated by low‐dose hydralazine in the absence of a blood pressure‐lowering effect. Obesity increased renal global DNA methylation and this was attenuated by low‐dose hydralazine. HFD‐induced changes in methylation of individual loci were also significantly reversed by low‐dose hydralazine. Obese mice demonstrated increased markers of kidney fibrosis, inflammation and oxidative stress, but these markers were not significantly improved by hydralazine.ConclusionLow‐dose hydralazine ameliorated HFD‐induced albuminuria and glomerulosclerosis, independent of alterations in biometric and metabolic variables or blood pressure regulation. Although the precise mechanism of renoprotection in obesity is unclear, an epigenetic basis may be implicated. These data support repurposing hydralazine as a novel therapy to prevent CKD progression in obese patients.

Lau, CW, Qu, Z, Draper, D, Quan, R, Braytee, A, Bluff, A, Zhang, D, Johnston, A, Kennedy, PJ, Simoff, S, Nguyen, QV & Catchpoole, D 2022, 'Virtual reality for the observation of oncology models (VROOM): immersive analytics for oncology patient cohorts', Scientific Reports, vol. 12, no. 1, p. 11337.
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AbstractThe significant advancement of inexpensive and portable virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality devices has re-energised the research in the immersive analytics field. The immersive environment is different from a traditional 2D display used to analyse 3D data as it provides a unified environment that supports immersion in a 3D scene, gestural interaction, haptic feedback and spatial audio. Genomic data analysis has been used in oncology to understand better the relationship between genetic profile, cancer type, and treatment option. This paper proposes a novel immersive analytics tool for cancer patient cohorts in a virtual reality environment, virtual reality to observe oncology data models. We utilise immersive technologies to analyse the gene expression and clinical data of a cohort of cancer patients. Various machine learning algorithms and visualisation methods have also been deployed in VR to enhance the data interrogation process. This is supported with established 2D visual analytics and graphical methods in bioinformatics, such as scatter plots, descriptive statistical information, linear regression, box plot and heatmap into our visualisation. Our approach allows the clinician to interrogate the information that is familiar and meaningful to them while providing them immersive analytics capabilities to make new discoveries toward personalised medicine.

Law, AMK, Chen, J, Colino‐Sanguino, Y, Fuente, LRDL, Fang, G, Grimes, SM, Lu, H, Huang, RJ, Boyle, ST, Venhuizen, J, Castillo, L, Tavakoli, J, Skhinas, JN, Millar, EKA, Beretov, J, Rossello, FJ, Tipper, JL, Ormandy, CJ, Samuel, MS, Cox, TR, Martelotto, L, Jin, D, Valdes‐Mora, F, Ji, HP & Gallego‐Ortega, D 2022, 'ALTEN: A High‐Fidelity Primary Tissue‐Engineering Platform to Assess Cellular Responses Ex Vivo', Advanced Science, vol. 9, no. 21, pp. e2103332-2103332.
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AbstractTo fully investigate cellular responses to stimuli and perturbations within tissues, it is essential to replicate the complex molecular interactions within the local microenvironment of cellular niches. Here, the authors introduce Alginate‐based tissue engineering (ALTEN), a biomimetic tissue platform that allows ex vivo analysis of explanted tissue biopsies. This method preserves the original characteristics of the source tissue's cellular milieu, allowing multiple and diverse cell types to be maintained over an extended period of time. As a result, ALTEN enables rapid and faithful characterization of perturbations across specific cell types within a tissue. Importantly, using single‐cell genomics, this approach provides integrated cellular responses at the resolution of individual cells. ALTEN is a powerful tool for the analysis of cellular responses upon exposure to cytotoxic agents and immunomodulators. Additionally, ALTEN's scalability using automated microfluidic devices for tissue encapsulation and subsequent transport, to enable centralized high‐throughput analysis of samples gathered by large‐scale multicenter studies, is shown.

Lerman, SF, Mun, CJ, Hunt, CA, Kunatharaju, S, Buenaver, LF, Finan, PH, Campbell, CM, Phillips, J, Fernandez-Mendoza, J, Haythornthwaite, JA & Smith, MT 2022, 'Insomnia with objective short sleep duration in women with temporomandibular joint disorder: quantitative sensory testing, inflammation and clinical pain profiles', Sleep Medicine, vol. 90, pp. 26-35.
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OBJECTIVES/BACKGROUND: Temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD) is a disabling facial pain syndrome with a high prevalence of insomnia that primarily affects women. Insomnia with objective short sleep duration (ISSD) is an emerging phenotype linked to cardiometabolic morbidity and increased mortality. The present report examines the association of ISSD on clinical and laboratory pain and systemic inflammation in TMD. METHODS: We collected baseline data from 128 women with TMD and insomnia as part of a clinical trial evaluating psychological interventions for sleep and pain. Participants completed self-report questionnaires, one-night polysomnography, a two-week actigraphy assessment, quantitative sensory testing (QST) to assess cold pain tolerance, pain sensitivity and central sensitization and circulating Interleukin-6 levels were measured to assess systemic inflammation. RESULTS: 24.2% (n = 31) of the sample met criteria for ISSD [polysomnography (sleep duration <6 h)]. Compared to those with insomnia and normal sleep duration, ISSD were older (40.4 vs. 34.9,p < 0.05) and a greater proportion self-identified as Black (48.4% vs 11.3%,p < 0.001). Multivariate regressions revealed that ISSD endorsed higher self-report pain severity and functional limitation of the jaw. ISSD also demonstrated increased generalized pain sensitivity, enhanced central sensitization, cold pressor tolerance and higher resting interleukin-6 levels. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to characterize the ISSD phenotype in a chronic pain sample and expand the scope of its negative health outcomes to chronic pain. ISSD may be an important chronic pain phenotype associated with a more severe clinical and laboratory pain profile, and future studies should focus on implications for treatment response and disease trajectory. CLINICAL TRIAL: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01794624.

Leung, KFC, Golzan, M, Egodage, C, Rodda, S, Cracknell, R, Macken, P & Kaushik, S 2022, 'Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on ophthalmic presentations to an Australian outer metropolitan and rural emergency department: a retrospective comparative study', BMC Ophthalmology, vol. 22, no. 1.
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Abstract Background To analyse ophthalmic presentations to an outer metropolitan and a rural emergency department (ED) during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Methods A retrospective comparative study of ophthalmic emergency presentations to Campbelltown Hospital (fifth busiest NSW metropolitan ED; population 310,000) and Bowral and District Hospital (rural ED; population 48,000) before and during COVID-19 was conducted. Patient demographics, triage category, referral source, diagnosis, length of stay, departure status, and follow-up location were assessed from coding data between March 1st to May 31st in 2019 and 2020, corresponding to the peak case numbers and restrictions during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in NSW. Differences before and during COVID-19 were analysed using chi-squared tests or independent sample t-tests. Results There was no change in ophthalmic presentations at Campbelltown (n = 228 in 2019 vs. n = 232 in 2020; + 1.75%, p = 0.12) and an increase at Bowral (n = 100 in 2019 vs. n = 111 in 2020; + 11%, p < 0.01) during COVID-19. Urgent ophthalmic presentations (Triage Category 3) decreased at Bowral (p = 0.0075), while non-urgent ophthalmic presentations (Triage Category 5) increased at both hospitals (Campbelltown p < 0.05, Bowral p < 0.01). Conclu...

Li, L, Mac Aogáin, M, Xu, T, Jaggi, TK, Chan, LLY, Qu, J, Wei, L, Liao, S, Cheng, HS, Keir, HR, Dicker, AJ, Tan, KS, De Yun, W, Koh, MS, Ong, TH, Lim, AYH, Abisheganaden, JA, Low, TB, Hassan, TM, Long, X, Wark, PAB, Oliver, B, Drautz-Moses, DI, Schuster, SC, Tan, NS, Fang, M, Chalmers, JD & Chotirmall, SH 2022, 'Neisseria species as pathobionts in bronchiectasis', Cell Host & Microbe, vol. 30, no. 9, pp. 1311-1327.e8.
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Neisseria species are frequently identified in the bronchiectasis microbiome, but they are regarded as respiratory commensals. Using a combination of human cohorts, next-generation sequencing, systems biology, and animal models, we show that bronchiectasis bacteriomes defined by the presence of Neisseria spp. associate with poor clinical outcomes, including exacerbations. Neisseria subflava cultivated from bronchiectasis patients promotes the loss of epithelial integrity and inflammation in primary epithelial cells. In vivo animal models of Neisseria subflava infection and metabolipidome analysis highlight immunoinflammatory functional gene clusters and provide evidence for pulmonary inflammation. The murine metabolipidomic data were validated with human Neisseria-dominant bronchiectasis samples and compared with disease in which Pseudomonas-, an established bronchiectasis pathogen, is dominant. Metagenomic surveillance of Neisseria across various respiratory disorders reveals broader importance, and the assessment of the home environment in bronchiectasis implies potential environmental sources of exposure. Thus, we identify Neisseria species as pathobionts in bronchiectasis, allowing for improved risk stratification in this high-risk group.

Li, M, Wen Ma, Z, Jun Deng, S, Oliver, BG, Wang, T, Ping Zhang, H, Wang, L, McDonald, VM, Wang, J, Liu, D, Gibson, PG, Ming Luo, F, Min Li, W, Jing Wan, H & Wang, G 2022, 'Development and validation of a noninvasive prediction model for identifying eosinophilic asthma', Respiratory Medicine, vol. 201, pp. 106935-106935.
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BACKGROUND: Identification of eosinophilic asthma (EA) using sputum analysis is important for disease monitoring and individualized treatment. But it is laborious and technically demanding. We aimed to develop and validate an effective model to predict EA with multidimensional assessment (MDA). METHODS: The asthma patients who underwent a successful sputum induction cytological analysis were consecutively recruited from March 2014 to January 2021. The variables assessed by MDA were screened by least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) and logistic regression to develop a nomogram and an online web calculator. Validation was performed internally by a bootstrap sampling method and externally in the validation cohort. Diagnostic accuracy of the model in different asthma subgroups were also investigated. RESULTS: In total of 304 patients in the training cohort and 95 patients in the validation cohort were enrolled. Five variables were identified in the EA prediction model: gender, nasal polyp, blood eosinophils, blood basophils and FeNO. The C-index of the model was 0.86 (95% CI: 0.81-0.90) in the training cohort and 0.84 (95% CI: 0.72-0.89) in the validation cohort. The calibration curve showed good agreement between the prediction and actual observation. The decision curve analysis (DCA) also demonstrated that the EA prediction model was clinically beneficial. An online publicly available web calculator was constructed (https://asthmaresearcherlimin.shinyapps.io/DynNomapp/). CONCLUSION: We developed and validated a multivariable model based on MDA to help the diagnosis of EA, which has good diagnostic performance and clinical practicability. This practical tool may be a useful alternative for predicting EA in the clinic.

Li, M-Y, Qin, Y-Q, Tian, Y-G, Li, K-C, Oliver, BG, Liu, X-F, Zhao, P & Li, J-S 2022, 'Effective-component compatibility of Bufei Yishen formula III ameliorated COPD by improving airway epithelial cell senescence by promoting mitophagy via the NRF2/PINK1 pathway', BMC Pulmonary Medicine, vol. 22, no. 1, p. 434.
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Abstract Background Effective-component compatibility of Bufei Yishen formula III (ECC-BYF III) demonstrates positive effects on stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Purpose To investigate the mechanisms of ECC-BYF III on COPD rats from the aspect of airway epithelial cell senescence. Methods COPD model rats (Sprague-Dawley rat) were treated with ECC-BYF III for 8 weeks, and the efficacy was evaluated. Cigarette smoke extract (CSE)-induced senescence model of airway epithelial cells was treated with ECC-BYF III, and related enzymes and proteins involved in oxidative stress and mitophagy were detected. Results ECC-BYF III markedly rescued pulmonary function and histopathological changes, which might be associated with the amelioration of lung senescence, including the reduction of malondialdehyde (MDA) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-6 and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 levels, increase of the level in total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD), and decease in the p21 level in the airways. Furthermore, ECC-BYF III suppressed p16 and p21 expressions and senescence-associated β-galactosidase (SA-β-Gal) in CSE-induced airway epithelial cells. Moreover, ECC-BYF III upregulated mitophagy-related proteins, including the co-localizations of TOM20 and LC3B, PINK1 and PARK2, and improved mitochondrial function by upregulating mitochondrial mitofusin (MFN)2 and reducing dynamin-related protein 1 (DRP1) expression. ECC-BYF III enhanced the activities of T-SOD and GSH-PX by up-regulating NRF2, thus inhibiting oxi...

Li, X, Leung, FHF, Su, SW & Ling, SH 2022, 'Sleep Apnea Detection Using Multi-Error-Reduction Classification System with Multiple Bio-Signals.', Sensors, vol. 22, no. 15, pp. 5560-5560.
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Introduction: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) can cause serious health problems such as hypertension or cardiovascular disease. The manual detection of apnea is a time-consuming task, and automatic diagnosis is much more desirable. The contribution of this work is to detect OSA using a multi-error-reduction (MER) classification system with multi-domain features from bio-signals. Methods: Time-domain, frequency-domain, and non-linear analysis features are extracted from oxygen saturation (SaO2), ECG, airflow, thoracic, and abdominal signals. To analyse the significance of each feature, we design a two-stage feature selection. Stage 1 is the statistical analysis stage, and Stage 2 is the final feature subset selection stage using machine learning methods. In Stage 1, two statistical analyses (the one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the rank-sum test) provide a list of the significance level of each kind of feature. Then, in Stage 2, the support vector machine (SVM) algorithm is used to select a final feature subset based on the significance list. Next, an MER classification system is constructed, which applies a stacking with a structure that consists of base learners and an artificial neural network (ANN) meta-learner. Results: The Sleep Heart Health Study (SHHS) database is used to provide bio-signals. A total of 66 features are extracted. In the experiment that involves a duration parameter, 19 features are selected as the final feature subset because they provide a better and more stable performance. The SVM model shows good performance (accuracy = 81.68%, sensitivity = 97.05%, and specificity = 66.54%). It is also found that classifiers have poor performance when they predict normal events in less than 60 s. In the next experiment stage, the time-window segmentation method with a length of 60 s is used. After the above two-stage feature selection procedure, 48 features are selected as the final feature subset that give good performance (ac...

Lionnie, R, Apriono, C, Chai, R & Gunawan, D 2022, 'Curvature Best Basis: A Novel Criterion to Dynamically Select a Single Best Basis as the Extracted Feature for Periocular Recognition', IEEE Access, vol. 10, pp. 113523-113542.
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Liu, G, Jarnicki, AG, Paudel, KR, Lu, W, Wadhwa, R, Philp, AM, Van Eeckhoutte, H, Marshall, JE, Malyla, V, Katsifis, A, Fricker, M, Hansbro, NG, Dua, K, Kermani, NZ, Eapen, MS, Tiotiu, A, Chung, KF, Caramori, G, Bracke, K, Adcock, IM, Sohal, SS, Wark, PA, Oliver, BG & Hansbro, PM 2022, 'Adverse roles of mast cell chymase-1 in COPD', European Respiratory Journal, vol. 60, no. 6, pp. 2101431-2101431.
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BackgroundCOPD is the third leading cause of death worldwide. Cigarette smoke (CS)-induced chronic inflammation inducing airway remodelling, emphysema and impaired lung function is the primary cause. Effective therapies are urgently needed. Human chymase (hCMA)1 and its orthologue mCMA1/mouse mast cell protease (mMCP)5 are exocytosed from activated mast cells and have adverse roles in numerous disorders, but their role in COPD is unknown.MethodsWe evaluated hCMA1 levels in lung tissues of COPD patients. We usedmmcp5-deficient (−/−) mice to evaluate this protease's role and potential for therapeutic targeting in CS-induced experimental COPD. In addition, we usedex vivo/in vitrostudies to define mechanisms.ResultsThe levels of hCMA1 mRNA and CMA1+mast cells were increased in lung tissues from severe compared to early/mild COPD patients, non-COPD smokers and healthy controls. Degranulated mast cell numbers and mMCP5 protein were increased in lung tissues of wild-type mice with experimental COPD.mmcp5−/−mice were protected against CS-induced inflammation and macrophage accumulation, airway remodelling, emphysema and impaired lung function in experimental COPD. CS extract challenge of co-cultures of mast cells from wild-type, but notmmcp5−/−mice with wild-type lung macrophages increased in tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α release. It also caused the release of CMA1 from human mast cells, and recombinant hCMA-1 induced TNF-α release from human macrophages. Treatment with CMA1 inhibitor potently suppressed these hallmark features of experimental COPD.Conclusion

Liu, T, Zhang, W, Li, J, Ueland, M, Forbes, SL, Zheng, WX & Su, SW 2022, 'A Multiscale Wavelet Kernel Regularization-Based Feature Extraction Method for Electronic Nose', IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics: Systems, vol. 52, no. 11, pp. 7078-7089.
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Liu, Y, Wang, L, Shi, T & Li, J 2022, 'Detection of spam reviews through a hierarchical attention architecture with N-gram CNN and Bi-LSTM', Information Systems, vol. 103, pp. 101865-101865.
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Liu, Y, Zhang, X, Zhang, L, Oliver, BG, Wang, HG, Liu, ZP, Chen, ZH, Wood, L, Hsu, AC-Y, Xie, M, McDonald, V, Wan, HJ, Luo, FM, Liu, D, Li, WM & Wang, G 2022, 'Sputum Metabolomic Profiling Reveals Metabolic Pathways and Signatures Associated With Inflammatory Phenotypes in Patients With Asthma', Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Research, vol. 14, no. 4, pp. 393-393.
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PURPOSE: The molecular links between metabolism and inflammation that drive different inflammatory phenotypes in asthma are poorly understood. We aimed to identify the metabolic signatures and underlying molecular pathways of different inflammatory asthma phenotypes. METHODS: In the discovery set (n = 119), untargeted ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS) was applied to characterize the induced sputum metabolic profiles of asthmatic patients with different inflammatory phenotypes using orthogonal partial least-squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA), and pathway topology enrichment analysis. In the validation set (n = 114), differential metabolites were selected to perform targeted quantification. Correlations between targeted metabolites and clinical indices in asthmatic patients were analyzed. Logistic and negative binomial regression models were established to assess the association between metabolites and severe asthma exacerbations. RESULTS: Seventy-seven differential metabolites were identified in the discovery set. Pathway topology analysis uncovered that histidine metabolism, glycerophospholipid metabolism, nicotinate and nicotinamide metabolism, linoleic acid metabolism as well as phenylalanine, tyrosine and tryptophan biosynthesis were involved in the pathogenesis of different asthma phenotypes. In the validation set, 24 targeted quantification metabolites were significantly expressed between asthma inflammatory phenotypes. Finally, adenosine 5'-monophosphate (adjusted relative risk [adj RR] = 1.000; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.000-1.000; P = 0.050), allantoin (adj RR = 1.000; 95% CI = 1.000-1.000; P = 0.043) and nicotinamide (adj RR = 1.001; 95% CI = 1.000-1.002; P = 0.021) were demonstrated to predict severe asthma exacerbation rates. CONCLUSIONS: Different inflammatory asthma phenotypes have specific metabolic profiles in induced sputum. The potential metabolic signatures may identify therapeutic tar...

Long, E, Babl, FE, Phillips, N, Craig, S, Zhang, M, Kochar, A, McCaskill, M, Borland, ML, Slavin, MA, Phillips, R, Lourenco, RDA, Michinaud, F, Thursky, KA & Haeusler, G 2022, 'Prevalence and predictors of poor outcome in children with febrile neutropaenia presenting to the emergency department', Emergency Medicine Australasia, vol. 34, no. 5, pp. 786-793.
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AbstractObjectiveChildren with acquired neutropaenia due to cancer chemotherapy are at high risk of severe infection. The present study aims to describe the prevalence and predictors of poor outcomes in children with febrile neutropaenia (FN).MethodsThis is a multicentre, prospective observational study in tertiary Australian EDs. Cancer patients with FN were included. Fever was defined as a single temperature ≥38°C, and neutropaenia was defined as an absolute neutrophil count <1000/mm3. The primary outcome was the ICU admission for organ support therapy (inotropic support, mechanical ventilation, renal replacement therapy, extracorporeal life support). Secondary outcomes were: ICU admission, ICU length of stay (LOS) ≥3 days, proven or probable bacterial infection, hospital LOS ≥7 days and 28‐day mortality. Initial vital signs, biomarkers (including lactate) and clinical sepsis scores, including Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome, quick Sequential Organ Failure Assessment and quick Paediatric Logistic Organ Dysfunction‐2 were evaluated as predictors of poor outcomes.ResultsBetween December 2016 and January 2018, 2124 episodes of fever in children with cancer were screened, 547 episodes in 334 children met inclusion criteria. Four episodes resulted in ICU admission for organ support therapy, nine episodes required ICU admission, ICU LOS was ≥3 days in four, hospital LOS was ≥7 days in 153 and two patients died within 28 days. Vital signs, blood tests and clinical sepsis scores, including Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome, quick Sequential Organ Failure Assessment and quick Paediatric Logistic Organ Dysfunction‐2, performed poorly as predictors of these outcomes (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve <0.6).

Lourenco, RDA, Khoo, T, Crothers, A, Haas, M, Montgomery, R, Ball, D, Bressel, M & Siva, S 2022, 'Cost-Effectiveness of Single Versus Multifraction SABR for Pulmonary Oligometastases: The SAFRON II Trial', International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics, vol. 114, no. 5, pp. 968-976.
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Lovell, MR, Phillips, JL, Luckett, T, Lam, L, Boyle, FM, Davidson, PM, Cheah, SL, McCaffrey, N, Currow, DC, Shaw, T, Hosie, A, Koczwara, B, Clarke, S, Lee, J, Stockler, MR, Sheehan, C, Spruijt, O, Allsopp, K, Clinch, A, Clark, K, Read, A & Agar, M 2022, 'Effect of Cancer Pain Guideline Implementation on Pain Outcomes Among Adult Outpatients With Cancer-Related Pain', JAMA Network Open, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. e220060-e220060.
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Importance: An evidence-practice gap exists for cancer pain management, and cancer pain remains prevalent and disabling. Objectives: To evaluate the capacity of 3 cancer pain guideline implementation strategies to improve pain-related outcomes for patients attending oncology and palliative care outpatient services. Design, Setting, and Participants: A pragmatic, stepped wedge, cluster-randomized, nonblinded, clinical trial was conducted between 2014 and 2019. The clusters were cancer centers in Australia providing oncology and palliative care outpatient clinics. Participants included a consecutive cohort of adult outpatients with advanced cancer and a worst pain severity score of 2 or more out of 10 on a numeric rating scale (NRS). Data were collected between August 2015 and May 2019. Data were analyzed July to October 2019 and reanalyzed November to December 2021. Interventions: Guideline implementation strategies at the cluster, health professional, and patient levels introduced with the support of a clinical champion. Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary measure of effect was the percentage of participants initially screened as having moderate to severe worst pain (NRS ≥ 5) who experienced a clinically important improvement of 30% or more 1 week later. Secondary outcomes included mean average pain, patient empowerment, fidelity to the intervention, and quality of life and were measured in all participants with a pain score of 2 or more 10 at weeks 1, 2, and 4. Results: Of 8099 patients screened at 6 clusters, 1564 were eligible, and 359 were recruited during the control phase (mean [SD] age, 64.2 [12.1] years; 196 men [55%]) and 329 during the intervention phase (mean [SD] age, 63.6 [12.7] years; 155 men [47%]), with no significant differences between phases on baseline measures. The mean (SD) baseline worst pain scores were 5.0 (2.6) and 4.9 (2.6) for control and intervention phases, respectively. The mean (SD) baseline average pain scores were 3...

Luckett, T, Roberts, M, Smith, T, Garcia, M, Dunn, S, Swan, F, Ferguson, C, Kochovska, S, Phillips, JL, Pearson, M, Currow, DC & Johnson, MJ 2022, 'Implementing the battery-operated hand-held fan as an evidence-based, non-pharmacological intervention for chronic breathlessness in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD): a qualitative study of the views of specialist respiratory clinicians', BMC Pulmonary Medicine, vol. 22, no. 1, pp. 1-14.
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AbstractIntroductionThe battery-operated hand-held fan (‘fan’) is an inexpensive and portable non-pharmacological intervention for chronic breathlessness. Evidence from randomised controlled trials suggests the fan reduces breathlessness intensity and improves physical activity in patients with a range of advanced chronic conditions. Qualitative data from these trials suggests the fan may also reduce anxiety and improve daily functioning for many patients. This study aimed to explore barriers and facilitators to the fan’s implementation in specialist respiratory care as a non-pharmacological intervention for chronic breathlessness in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).MethodsA qualitative approach was taken, using focus groups. Participants were clinicians from any discipline working in specialist respiratory care at two hospitals. Questions asked about current fan-related practice and perceptions regarding benefits, harms and mechanisms, and factors influencing its implementation. Analysis used a mixed inductive/deductive approach.ResultsForty-nine participants from nursing (n = 30), medical (n = 13) and allied health (n = 6) disciplines participated across 9 focus groups. The most influential facilitator was a belief that the fan’s benefits outweighed disadvantages. Clinicians’ beliefs about the fan’s mechanisms determined which patient sub-groups they targeted, for example anxious or palliative/end-stage patients. Barriers to implementation included a lack of clarity about whose role it was to implement the fan, what advice to provide patients, and limited access to fans in hospitals. Few clinicians implemented the fan for acute-on-chronic breathlessness or in combination with other interventions.

Luckett, T, Virdun, C, Rao, A, Daly, L, Hackl, N, Willems, A & Phillips, JL 2022, 'Improving the methods for patient-reported experience measures in palliative care: findings from a cognitive interview study', Annals of Palliative Medicine, vol. 11, no. 7, pp. 2275-2284.
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BACKGROUND: Patient-reported experience measures (PREMs) are questionnaires that ask patients about their experience of healthcare to inform service improvements. It is unclear how palliative care patients manage the cognitive demands of completing PREMs, or how this can best be supported. This study aimed to explore cognitive operations among people with palliative care needs when completing a PREM focused on the care domains known to be important to this patient population in order to inform future administration of questionnaires for this purpose. METHODS: A qualitative approach was taken, using cognitive interviews. Participants were people receiving specialist palliative care with stable disease who were not bedbound. Interviews used 'think aloud' and verbal probes to explore the cognitive operations of comprehension, recall, judgement and response to a 33-item PREM, drafted using a standard process employed by the New South Wales Bureau of Health Information. Analysis proceeded first within- and then cross-cases to explore patterns. RESULTS: Fifteen people participated, all of whom had cancer except one with motor neuron disease. Six discussed inpatient care, and nine community care. Participants encountered challenges with all four cognitive operations. Many participants were unfamiliar with end-of-life care concepts like declining treatment and advance care planning. Participants often struggled to remember, answered hypothetically, or digressed beyond the focal setting. Few participants used the mid-point on a 3-point scale. However, all participants could complete two open-ended items on care aspects they regarded as 'best' or 'most needs improving'. CONCLUSIONS: Palliative care patients find PREMs challenging to complete and require supports to improve the quality and interpretability of data. Pending further research, tentative suggestions are made for PREM design and administration for this patient population.

Mahmud, MAP, Bazaz, SR, Dabiri, S, Mehrizi, AA, Asadnia, M, Warkiani, ME & Wang, ZL 2022, 'Advances in MEMS and Microfluidics‐Based Energy Harvesting Technologies', Advanced Materials Technologies, vol. 7, no. 7, pp. 2101347-2101347.
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AbstractEnergy harvesting from mechanical vibrations, thermal gradients, electromagnetic radiations, and solar radiations has experienced rapid progress in recent times not only to develop an alternative power source that can replace conventional batteries to energize portable and personal electronics smartly but also to achieve sustainable self‐sufficient micro/nanosystems. Utilizing micro‐electromechanical system (MEMS) and microfluidics technologies through selective designs and fabrications effectively, those energy harvesters can be considerably downsized while ensuring a stable, portable, and consistent power supply. Although ambient energy sources such as solar radiation are harvested for decades, recent developments have enabled ambient vibrations, electromagnetic radiation, and heat to be harvested wirelessly, independently, and sustainably. Developments in the field of microfluidics have also led to the design and fabrication of novel energy harvesting devices. This paper reviews the recent advancements in energy harvesting technologies such as piezoelectric, electromagnetic, electrostatic, thermoelectric, radio frequency, and solar to drive self‐powered portable electronics. Moreover, the potential application of MEMS and microfluidics as well as MEMS‐based structures and fabrication techniques for energy harvesting are summarized and presented. Finally, a few crucial challenges affecting the performance of energy harvesters are addressed.

Mallos, M, Velivela, V, Charlton, A, Keller, C, Frankel, A, Kennedy, P & Catchpoole, D 2022, 'Looking beneath the surface of rhabdomyosarcoma: Artificial intelligence using deep learning can classify with 90% accuracy', Pathology, vol. 54, pp. S38-S38.
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Manandhar, B, Paudel, KR, Panth, N, Hansbro, P, Oliver, BG & Dua, K 2022, 'Applications of extracellular vesicles as a drug-delivery system for chronic respiratory diseases', Nanomedicine, vol. 17, no. 12, pp. 817-820.
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Marco, DJ-T, Thomas, K, Ivynian, S, Wilding, H, Parker, D, Tieman, J & Hudson, P 2022, 'Family carer needs in advanced disease: systematic review of reviews', BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 132-141.
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BackgroundFamily carers are vital in the management and delivery of home-based palliative care. Decision-makers need to know what the most commonly expressed unmet needs of family carers are to target available support services.AimTo identify the most commonly expressed needs of family carers of people with an advanced disease, assess the quality of current evidence, and set an agenda for future research and clinical practice.DesignA systematic review of reviews, prospectively registered on PROSPERO. Study quality was assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute critical appraisal checklist for systematic reviews and research syntheses.Data sourcesMEDLINE, Embase, Emcare, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Informit and Cochrane Library were searched for reviews about the needs of carers looking after patients with advanced disease from 2010 to 2020.ResultsFindings from 21 reviews identified emotional support, disease-specific knowledge, carer role responsibilities, self-care and general practical support as the most commonly expressed needs expressed by family carers. Additionally, access to professional services, formal education opportunities and communication with health professionals were identified as caregivers’ preferred ways of having these needs met. Extraction of carer-specific needs was challenging at times as results were often combined with patient results in reviews.ConclusionPractical difficulties exist in effectively resourcing services to meet the needs of family carers. Information regarding the most commonly expressed needs shared by caregivers and their preferred delivery source can provide an opportu...

Masangkay, J, Munasinghe, N, Watterson, P & Paul, G 2022, 'Simulation and experimental characterisation of a 3D-printed electromagnetic vibration sensor', Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, vol. 338, pp. 113470-113470.
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Additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing has already transformed from a rapid prototyping tool to a final end-product manufacturing technique. 3D printing can be used to develop various types of sensors. This paper investigates the ability to use the electromagnetic induction properties of 3D printed carbon-based filament for developing sensors. The paper presents a novel prototype vibration sensor which is 3D-printable, except for an included NdFeB magnet. Motion is detected from the voltage induced by the relative motion of the magnet. The devised vibration sensor is simulated using ANSYS, and a novel prototype is 3D-printed for physical testing to characterise and understand its electromagnetic properties. Simulation helped establish constraints for the design. Two types of experimental setups were physically tested, one setup with a magnet freely sliding inside a cylindrical cavity within an oscillating coil, and the other setup with a stationary coil and oscillating magnet. At a frequency of 10 Hz and a motion travel of about 12 mm, the induced voltage for the moving coil case varied from 5.4 mV RMS for pure sliding motion of the internal magnet to 22.1 mV RMS. The findings of this paper suggest that future sensors can be developed using the electromagnetic induction properties of the carbon-based filament.

Mascio, R, Best, M, Lynch, S, Phillips, J & Jones, K 2022, 'Factors influencing nurse spiritual care practices at the end of life: A systematic review', Palliative and Supportive Care, vol. 20, no. 6, pp. 878-896.
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AbstractObjectivesThe aim was to identify determinants of nurse spiritual/existential care practices toward end-of-life patients. Nurses can play a significant role in providing spiritual/existential care, but they actually provide this care less frequently than desired by patients.MethodsA systematic search was performed for peer-reviewed articles that reported factors that influenced nurses’ spiritual/existential care practices toward adult end-of-life patients.ResultsThe review identified 42 studies and included the views of 4,712 nurses across a range of hospital and community settings. The most frequently reported factors/domains that influenced nurse practice were patient-related social influence, skills, social/professional role and identity, intentions and goals, and environmental context and resources.Significance of resultsA range of personal, organizational, and patient-related factors influence nurse provision of spiritual/existential care to end-of-life patients. This complete list of factors can be used to gauge a unit's conduciveness to nurse provision of spiritual/existential care and can be used as inputs to nurse competency frameworks.

Massa, M, Moreira, A, A. Costa, R, R. Lima, M, R. Thiengo, C, Q. Marquez, W, J. Coutts, A & S. Aoki, M 2022, 'Biological maturation influences selection process in youth elite soccer players', Biology of Sport, vol. 39, no. 2, pp. 435-441.
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Mathew, M, Rad, MA, Mata, JP, Mahmodi, H, Kabakova, IV, Raston, CL, Tang, Y, Tipper, JL & Tavakoli, J 2022, 'Hyperbranched polymers tune the physicochemical, mechanical, and biomedical properties of alginate hydrogels', Materials Today Chemistry, vol. 23, pp. 100656-100656.
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The current research aimed to fabricate an alginate-hyperbranched polymer (HBP) complex, using a vortex fluidic device (VFD), to control the physicochemical, structural, and mechanical properties of alginate hydrogel; thus, providing a dominant biomaterial system for different biomedical applications. Samples were prepared by mixing alginate (6%w/w) with HBP (0.85 μM) before cross-linking with Ca2+ (100 mM). Magnet stirrer (600 rpm) and VFD (6000 rpm) were used to prepare experimental samples, and alginate was used as control. Comprehensive evaluations of bulk and surface morphology, microstructural analysis, swelling kinetics, mechanical characteristics, cytotoxicity, and formation of hydrogen bonds were conducted. The findings from this study revealed that the addition of HBP to alginate structure led to a higher swelling capability (86%), increased diffusion coefficient (66-fold), and enhanced failure mechanical properties (160% and 20% increases for failure stress and elongation at break, respectively) than control. Traditional mixing affected the surface morphology, while the bulk structure remained unchanged. Moreover, the rate of degradation was not significantly different between alginate and alginate-HBP samples. When VFD was incorporated, a higher swelling ratio (30%) was observed than the control sample and the coefficient of diffusion increased (34-fold). The associated degradation rate increased 30-fold, and the failure stress and elongation at break were increased 310% and 83%, respectively, compared to the control sample. The micromixing of alginate with HBP under high shear stress using a VFD created a micro-hybrid composite formed by alginate microparticles embedded in an alginate sheet.

Matsuoka, H, Clark, K, Fazekas, B, Oyamada, S, Brown, L, Ishiki, H, Matsuda, Y, Hasuo, H, Ariyoshi, K, Lee, J, Le, B, Allcroft, P, Kochovska, S, Fujiwara, N, Miyaji, T, Lovell, M, Agar, M, Yamaguchi, T, Satomi, E, Iwase, S, Phillips, J, Koyama, A & Currow, DC 2022, 'Phase III, international, multicentre, double-blind, dose increment, parallel-arm, randomised controlled trial of duloxetine versus pregabalin for opioid-unresponsive neuropathic cancer pain: a JORTC-PAL16 trial protocol', BMJ Open, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. e050182-e050182.
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IntroductionManagement of neuropathic cancer pain (NCP) refractory to regular opioids remains an important challenge. The efficacy of pregabalin for NCP except chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) has already been confirmed in two randomised controlled trials (RCTs) compared with placebo. Duloxetine offers the potential of analgesia in opioid refractory NCP. However, there are no RCT of duloxetine for the management of opioid-refractory NCP as a first line treatment. Both classes of drugs have the potential to reduce NCP, but there has been no head-to-head comparison for the efficacy and safety, especially given differing side effect profiles.Methods and analysisAn international, multicentre, double-blind, dose increment, parallel-arm, RCT is planned. Inclusion criteria include: adults with cancer experiencing NCP refractory to opioids; Brief Pain Inventory (BPI)-item 3 (worst pain) of ≥4; Neuropathic Pain on the Leeds Assessment of Neuropathic Symptoms and Signs Pain Scale of ≥12 despite of an adequate trial of regular opioid medication (≥60 mg/day oral morphine equivalent dose). Patients with CIPN are excluded.The study will recruit from palliative care teams (both inpatients and outpatients) in Japan and Australia. Participants will be randomised (1:1 allocation ratio) to duloxetine or pregabalin arm. Dose escalation is until day 14 and from day 14 to 21 is a dose de-escalation period to avoid withdrawal effects. The primary endpoint is defined as the mean difference in BPI item 3 for worst pain intensity over the previous 24 hours at day 14 between groups. A sample size of 160 patients will be enrolled between February 2020 and March 2023.Ethics and disseminationEthics approval was obtained at Osaka City University Hospital Certified Review Board and Sou...

McDonagh, J, Prichard, R, Ferguson, C, Phillips, JL, Davidson, PM, Macdonald, PS & Newton, PJ 2022, 'Clinician Estimates of Frailty Compared to Formal Frailty Assessment in Adults With Heart Failure: A Cross-Sectional Analysis', Heart, Lung and Circulation, vol. 31, no. 9, pp. 1241-1246.
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Mendonca, CJ, Newton-John, TRO & Bulsara, SM 2022, 'Psychosocial factors and quality of life in HIV', Australian Psychologist, vol. 57, no. 3, pp. 167-173.
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Merklein, M, Kabakova, IV, Zarifi, A & Eggleton, BJ 2022, '100 years of Brillouin scattering: Historical and future perspectives', Applied Physics Reviews, vol. 9, no. 4, pp. 041306-041306.
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The Year 2022 marks 100 years since Leon Brillouin predicted and theoretically described the interaction of optical waves with acoustic waves in a medium. Accordingly, this resonant multi-wave interaction is referred to as Brillouin scattering. Today, Brillouin scattering has found a multitude of applications, ranging from microscopy of biological tissue, remote sensing over many kilometers, and signal processing in compact photonic integrated circuits smaller than the size of a thumbnail. What allows Brillouin scattering to be harnessed over such different length scales and research domains are its unique underlying properties, namely, its narrow linewidth in the MHz range, a frequency shift in the GHz range, large frequency selective gain or loss, frequency tunability, and optical reconfigurability. Brillouin scattering is also a ubiquitous effect that can be observed in many different media, such as freely propagating in gases and liquids, as well as over long lengths of low-loss optical glass fibers or short semiconductor waveguides. A recent trend of Brillouin research focuses on micro-structured waveguides and integrated photonic platforms. The reduction in the size of waveguides allows tailoring the overlap between the optical and acoustic waves and promises many novel applications in a compact footprint. In this review article, we give an overview of the evolution and development of the field of Brillouin scattering over the last one hundred years toward current lines of active research. We provide the reader with a perspective of recent trends and challenges that demand further research efforts and give an outlook toward the future of this exciting and diverse research field.

Mohid, SA, Sharma, P, Alghalayini, A, Saini, T, Datta, D, Willcox, MDP, Ali, H, Raha, S, Singha, A, Lee, D, Sahoo, N, Cranfield, CG, Roy, S & Bhunia, A 2022, 'A rationally designed synthetic antimicrobial peptide against Pseudomonas-associated corneal keratitis: Structure-function correlation', Biophysical Chemistry, vol. 286, pp. 106802-106802.
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Moridian, P, Ghassemi, N, Jafari, M, Salloum-Asfar, S, Sadeghi, D, Khodatars, M, Shoeibi, A, Khosravi, A, Ling, SH, Subasi, A, Abdulla, SA, Alizadehsani, R, Górriz, JM & Acharya, UR 2022, 'Automatic Autism Spectrum Disorder Detection Using Artificial Intelligence Methods with MRI Neuroimaging: A Review.', CoRR, vol. abs/2206.11233, pp. 1-32.
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Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a brain condition characterized by diverse signs and symptoms that appear in early childhood. ASD is also associated with communication deficits and repetitive behavior in affected individuals. Various ASD detection methods have been developed, including neuroimaging modalities and psychological tests. Among these methods, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) imaging modalities are of paramount importance to physicians. Clinicians rely on MRI modalities to diagnose ASD accurately. The MRI modalities are non-invasive methods that include functional (fMRI) and structural (sMRI) neuroimaging methods. However, diagnosing ASD with fMRI and sMRI for specialists is often laborious and time-consuming; therefore, several computer-aided design systems (CADS) based on artificial intelligence (AI) have been developed to assist specialist physicians. Conventional machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) are the most popular schemes of AI used for diagnosing ASD. This study aims to review the automated detection of ASD using AI. We review several CADS that have been developed using ML techniques for the automated diagnosis of ASD using MRI modalities. There has been very limited work on the use of DL techniques to develop automated diagnostic models for ASD. A summary of the studies developed using DL is provided in the Supplementary Appendix. Then, the challenges encountered during the automated diagnosis of ASD using MRI and AI techniques are described in detail. Additionally, a graphical comparison of studies using ML and DL to diagnose ASD automatically is discussed. We suggest future approaches to detecting ASDs using AI techniques and MRI neuroimaging.

Morris, L, Turner, S, Thiruthaneeswaran, N, O'Donovan, A, Simcock, R, Cree, A, Phillips, J, Alibhai, S, Puts, M, Szumacher, E, Lane, H, Berger, A & Agar, M 2022, 'An International Expert Delphi Consensus to Develop Dedicated Geriatric Radiation Oncology Curriculum Learning Outcomes', International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics, vol. 113, no. 5, pp. 934-945.
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PURPOSE: The management of older adults with cancer is rapidly becoming a significant challenge in radiation oncology (RO) practice. The education of future radiation oncologists in geriatric oncology is fundamental to ensuring that older adults receive high-quality care. Currently RO trainees receive little training and education in geriatric oncology. The objective of this study was to define core geriatric RO curriculum learning outcomes relevant to RO trainees worldwide. METHODS AND MATERIALS: A 2-stage modified Delphi consensus was conducted. Stage 1 involved the formation of an expert reference panel (ERP) of multiprofessional experts in geriatric oncology and/or RO and the compilation of a potential geriatric RO learning outcomes set. Stage 2 involved 3 iterative rounds: round 1 and round 2 (both online surveys), and an intervening ERP round. These aimed at identifying and refining ideal geriatric RO learning outcomes. Invited participants for round 1 and 2 included oncology health care professionals with expertise across RO, geriatric oncology, and/or education and consumers. Predefined Delphi consensus definitions were applied to the results of rounds 1 and 2. RESULTS: An ERP of 11 experts in geriatric oncology and/or RO was formed. Seventy potential knowledge- and skill-based learning outcomes were identified. In round 1, 103 of 179 invited eligible Delphi participants completed the survey (58% response rate). The ERP round was conducted, resulting in the exclusion of 28 learning outcomes. In round 2, 54 of 103 completed the survey (52% response rate). This identified a final total of 33 geriatric RO learning outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: The geriatric RO learning outcomes described in this study form an international consensus that can inform RO training bodies worldwide. This represents the first fundamental step in developing a global educational framework aimed at improving RO trainee knowledge and skills in geriatric oncology.

Morshedi Rad, D, Rezaei, M, Radfar, P & Ebrahimi Warkiani, M 2022, 'Microengineered filters for efficient delivery of nanomaterials into mammalian cells', Scientific Reports, vol. 12, no. 1, p. 4383.
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AbstractIntracellular delivery of nanomaterials into the cells of interest has enabled cell manipulation for numerous applications ranging from cell-based therapies to biomedical research. To date, different carriers or membrane poration-based techniques have been developed to load nanomaterials to the cell interior. These biotools have shown promise to surpass the membrane barrier and provide access to the intracellular space followed by passive diffusion of exogenous cargoes. However, most of them suffer from inconsistent delivery, cytotoxicity, and expensive protocols, somewhat limiting their utility in a variety of delivery applications. Here, by leveraging the benefits of microengineered porous membranes with a suitable porosity, we demonstrated an efficient intracellular loading of diverse nanomaterials to different cell types based on inducing mechanical disruption to the cell membrane. In this work, for the first time, we used ultra-thin silicon nitride (SiN) filter membranes with uniform micropores smaller than the cell diameter to load impermeable nanomaterials into adherent and non-adherent cell types. The delivery performance using SiN microsieves has been validated through the loading of functional nanomaterials from a few nanometers to hundreds of nanometers into mammalian cells with minimal undesired impacts. Besides the high delivery efficiency and improved cell viability, this simple and low-cost approach offers less clogging and higher throughput (107 cell min−1). Therefore, it yields to the efficient introduction of exogenous nanomaterials into the large population of cells, illustrating the potential of these microengineered filters to be widely used in the microfiltroporation (MFP) setup.

Mun, CJ, Weaver, KR, Hunt, CA, Owens, MA, Phillips, J, Lerman, SF, Buenaver, LF, Colloca, L, Tennen, H, Haythornthwaite, JA, Finan, PH & Smith, MT 2022, 'Pain Expectancy and Positive Affect Mediate the day-to-day Association Between Objectively Measured Sleep and Pain Severity Among Women With Temporomandibular Disorder', The Journal of Pain, vol. 23, no. 4, pp. 669-679.
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The majority of individuals with temporomandibular disorders (TMD) experience sleep disturbance, which can maintain and exacerbate chronic pain. However, the factors underlying the sleep-pain link have not been fully elucidated, especially beyond the laboratory. Sleep deprivation can induce threat interpretation bias, as well as impairment in positive affective functioning. Using both actigraphy and daily diaries, we examined whether morning pain expectancy and positive affect mediate the association between previous night's sleep disturbance and next-day overall pain severity. Total sleep time (TST) was selected as the primary measure of sleep. The sample included 144 women (mean age = 36 [SD = 11.1]) with TMD who displayed at least subclinical insomnia. Sleep was assessed for 14 days using actigraphy which was validated by concurrent sleep diaries. Daily diary assessments of pain-related experiences and affective states were conducted twice per day (ie, once upon participants' waking and the other prior to going to sleep) for the same 14-day period. Multilevel structural equation modeling revealed that both morning pain expectancy (95% CI: -.0004, -.00003) and positive affect (95% CI: -.0005, -.000001) mediated the association between previous night's TST and next-day's overall pain severity, such that shorter previous night TST was associated with higher next-morning pain expectancy and lower positive affect, which in turn were associated with a greater level of next-day's overall pain severity while controlling for morning pain severity. Reducing exaggerated daily pain expectancy and up-regulating positive affect may be important intervention targets for disengaging the sleep-pain link among individuals with co-occurring TMD and sleep disturbance. PERSPECTIVE: The daily link between previous night sleep duration and next day pain severity is mediated by morning pain expectancy and positive affect among women with temporomandibular disorder and sleep disturban...

Munday, I, Kneebone, I, Rogers, K & Newton-John, T 2022, 'The Language of Pain: Is There a Relationship Between Metaphor Use and Adjustment to Chronic Pain?', Pain Medicine, vol. 23, no. 12, pp. 2073-2084.
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Abstract Objective Metaphor, frequently used in chronic pain, can function as a communicative tool, facilitating understanding and empathy from others. Previous research has demonstrated that specific linguistic markers exist for areas such as pain catastrophizing, mood, as well as diagnostic categories. The current study sought to examine potential associations between the types of pain metaphors used and diagnostic category, disability, and mood. Design Online cross-sectional survey in Sydney, Australia. Subjects People with chronic pain (n = 247, age 19–78 years, M = 43.69). Methods The data collected included demographics, pain metaphors, the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) and the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales (DASS-21). Associations between metaphor source domains, obtained via Systematic Metaphor Analysis, and scores on the BPI, DASS-21, as well as diagnostic group were considered using binary logistic analysis. Results Use of different pain metaphors was not associated with pain intensity, however the extent to which pain interfered with daily life did have a relationship with use of metaphorical language. Preliminary support was found for an association between the use of certain pain metaphors and self-reported diagnostic categories, notably Endometriosis, Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, and Neuropathic pain...

Nagarajan, SV, Lewis, V, Halcomb, E, Rhee, J, Morton, RL, Mitchell, GK, Tieman, J, Phillips, JL, Detering, K, Gavin, J & Clayton, JM 2022, 'Barriers and facilitators to nurse-led advance care planning and palliative care practice change in primary healthcare: a qualitative study', Australian Journal of Primary Health, vol. 28, no. 2, pp. 151-157.
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Primary care settings are ideal for initiating advance care planning (ACP) conversations and assessing palliative and supportive care needs. However, time constraints and a lack of confidence to sensitively and efficiently initiate such discussions are noted barriers. The Advance Project implemented a national multicomponent training package to support Australian general practice nurses (GPNs) to work with GPs to initiate ACP and palliative care conversations in their practice. This paper reports on semistructured interviews conducted with 20 GPNs to explore barriers and facilitators to implementing the Advance Project model. Participants identified a range of factors that affected implementation, including lack of time, limited support from colleagues, lack of knowledge about systems and funding processes in general practice and a need for better alignment of the Advance Project resources and practices with general practice information management platforms. Barriers related to professional roles, particularly the lack of clarity and/or limitations in the scope of practice of GPNs, highlighted the importance of defining and supporting the roles that different primary health practice staff could play to support implementation of the model. The findings underline the need for complementary training in the Advance Project model for GPs and practice managers to enable a team-based approach to implementation.

Nazari, H, Heirani-Tabasi, A, Esmaeili, E, Kajbafzadeh, A-M, Hassannejad, Z, Boroomand, S, Shahsavari Alavijeh, MH, Mishan, MA, Ahmadi Tafti, SH, Warkiani, ME & Dadgar, N 2022, 'Decellularized human amniotic membrane reinforced by MoS₂-Polycaprolactone nanofibers, a novel conductive scaffold for cardiac tissue engineering', Journal of Biomaterials Applications, vol. 36, no. 9, pp. 1527-1539.
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In order to regenerate myocardial tissues with functional characteristics, we need to copy some properties of the myocardium, such as its extracellular matrix and electrical conductivity. In this study, we synthesized nanosheets of Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), and integrated them into polycaprolactone (PCL) and electrospun on the surface of decellularized human amniotic membrane (DHAM) with the purpose of improving the scaffolds mechanical properties and electrical conductivity. For in vitro studies, we seeded the mouse embryonic cardiac cells, mouse Embryonic Cardiac Cells (mECCs), on the scaffolds and then studied the MoS2nanocomposites by scanning electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. In addition, we characterized the DHAM/PCL and DHAM/PCL-MoS2by SEM, transmission electron microscopy, water contact angle measurement, electrical conductivity, and tensile test. Besides, we confirmed the scaffolds are biocompatible by 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide, MTT assay. Furthermore, by means of SEM images, it was shown that mECCs attached to the DHAM/PCL-MoS2scaffold have more cell aggregations and elongated morphology. Furthermore, through the Real-Time PCR and immunostaining studies, we found out cardiac genes were maturated and upregulated, and they also included GATA-4, c-TnT, NKX 2.5, and alpha-myosin heavy chain in cells cultured on DHAM/PCL-MoS2scaffold in comparison to DHAM/PCL and DHAM. Therefore, in terms of cardiac tissue engineering, DHAM nanofibrous scaffolds reinforced by PCL-MoS2can be suggested as a proper candidate.

Nazari, H, Heirani-Tabasi, A, Ghorbani, S, Eyni, H, Razavi Bazaz, S, Khayati, M, Gheidari, F, Moradpour, K, Kehtari, M, Ahmadi Tafti, SM, Ahmadi Tafti, SH & Ebrahimi Warkiani, M 2022, 'Microfluidic-Based Droplets for Advanced Regenerative Medicine: Current Challenges and Future Trends', Biosensors, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 20-20.
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Microfluidics is a promising approach for the facile and large-scale fabrication of monodispersed droplets for various applications in biomedicine. This technology has demonstrated great potential to address the limitations of regenerative medicine. Microfluidics provides safe, accurate, reliable, and cost-effective methods for encapsulating different stem cells, gametes, biomaterials, biomolecules, reagents, genes, and nanoparticles inside picoliter-sized droplets or droplet-derived microgels for different applications. Moreover, microenvironments made using such droplets can mimic niches of stem cells for cell therapy purposes, simulate native extracellular matrix (ECM) for tissue engineering applications, and remove challenges in cell encapsulation and three-dimensional (3D) culture methods. The fabrication of droplets using microfluidics also provides controllable microenvironments for manipulating gametes, fertilization, and embryo cultures for reproductive medicine. This review focuses on the relevant studies, and the latest progress in applying droplets in stem cell therapy, tissue engineering, reproductive biology, and gene therapy are separately evaluated. In the end, we discuss the challenges ahead in the field of microfluidics-based droplets for advanced regenerative medicine.

Newton-John, T 2022, 'Extending the biopsychosocial conceptualisation of chronic post surgical pain in children and adolescents: The family systems perspective', Canadian Journal of Pain, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 142-151.
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Nguyen, TV 2022, 'Personalised assessment of fracture risk: Which tool to use?', Australian Journal of General Practice, vol. 51, no. 3, pp. 189-190.
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Papanicolaou, M, Parker, AL, Yam, M, Filipe, EC, Wu, SZ, Chitty, JL, Wyllie, K, Tran, E, Mok, E, Nadalini, A, Skhinas, JN, Lucas, MC, Herrmann, D, Nobis, M, Pereira, BA, Law, AMK, Castillo, L, Murphy, KJ, Zaratzian, A, Hastings, JF, Croucher, DR, Lim, E, Oliver, BG, Mora, FV, Parker, BL, Gallego-Ortega, D, Swarbrick, A, O’Toole, S, Timpson, P & Cox, TR 2022, 'Temporal profiling of the breast tumour microenvironment reveals collagen XII as a driver of metastasis', Nature Communications, vol. 13, no. 1, p. 4587.
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AbstractThe tumour stroma, and in particular the extracellular matrix (ECM), is a salient feature of solid tumours that plays a crucial role in shaping their progression. Many desmoplastic tumours including breast cancer involve the significant accumulation of type I collagen. However, recently it has become clear that the precise distribution and organisation of matrix molecules such as collagen I is equally as important in the tumour as their abundance. Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) coexist within breast cancer tissues and play both pro- and anti-tumourigenic roles through remodelling the ECM. Here, using temporal proteomic profiling of decellularized tumours, we interrogate the evolving matrisome during breast cancer progression. We identify 4 key matrisomal clusters, and pinpoint collagen type XII as a critical component that regulates collagen type I organisation. Through combining our proteomics with single-cell transcriptomics, and genetic manipulation models, we show how CAF-secreted collagen XII alters collagen I organisation to create a pro-invasive microenvironment supporting metastatic dissemination. Finally, we show in patient cohorts that collagen XII may represent an indicator of breast cancer patients at high risk of metastatic relapse.

Patel, VK, Paudel, KR, Shukla, SD, Liu, G, Oliver, BG, Hansbro, PM & Dua, K 2022, 'Toll-like receptors, innate immune system, and lung diseases: a vital trilateral association.', EXCLI J, vol. 21, pp. 519-523.
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Paterson, C, Roberts, C, Kozlovskaia, M, Nahon, I, Schubach, K, Sara, S, Sayner, AM, De Abreu Lourenco, R, Turner, M, Chan, RJ, Lam, T, Woo, H & Toohey, K 2022, 'The Effects of Multimodal Prehabilitation Interventions in Men Affected by Prostate Cancer on Physical, Clinical and Patient Reported Outcome Measures: A Systematic Review', Seminars in Oncology Nursing, vol. 38, no. 5, pp. 151333-151333.
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Paudel, KR, Mehta, M, Yin, GHS, Yen, LL, Malyla, V, Patel, VK, Panneerselvam, J, Madheswaran, T, MacLoughlin, R, Jha, NK, Gupta, PK, Singh, SK, Gupta, G, Kumar, P, Oliver, BG, Hansbro, PM, Chellappan, DK & Dua, K 2022, 'Berberine-loaded liquid crystalline nanoparticles inhibit non-small cell lung cancer proliferation and migration in vitro', Environmental Science and Pollution Research, vol. 29, no. 31, pp. 46830-46847.
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AbstractNon-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is reported to have a high incidence rate and is one of the most prevalent types of cancer contributing towards 85% of all incidences of lung cancer. Berberine is an isoquinoline alkaloid which offers a broad range of therapeutical and pharmacological actions against cancer. However, extremely low water solubility and poor oral bioavailability have largely restricted its therapeutic applications. To overcome these limitations, we formulated berberine-loaded liquid crystalline nanoparticles (LCNs) and investigated their in vitro antiproliferative and antimigratory activity in human lung epithelial cancer cell line (A549). 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT), trypan blue staining, and colony forming assays were used to evaluate the anti-proliferative activity, while scratch wound healing assay and a modified Boyden chamber assay were carried out to determine the anti-migratory activity. We also investigated major proteins associated with lung cancer progression. The developed nanoparticles were found to have an average particle size of 181.3 nm with spherical shape, high entrapment efficiency (75.35%) and have shown sustained release behaviour. The most remarkable findings reported with berberine-loaded LCNs were significant suppression of proliferation, inhibition of colony formation, inhibition of invasion or migration via epithelial mesenchymal transition, and proliferation related proteins associated with cancer progression. Our findings suggest that anti-cancer compounds with the problem of poor solubility and bioavailability can be overcome by formulating them into nanotechnology-based delivery systems for better efficacy. Further in-depth investigations into anti-cancer mechanistic research will expand and strengthen the current findings of berberine-LCNs as a potential NSCLC treatment option.

Paudel, KR, Patel, V, Vishwas, S, Gupta, S, Sharma, S, Chan, Y, Jha, NK, Shrestha, J, Imran, M, Panth, N, Shukla, SD, Jha, SK, Devkota, HP, Warkiani, ME, Singh, SK, Ali, MK, Gupta, G, Chellappan, DK, Hansbro, PM & Dua, K 2022, 'Nutraceuticals and COVID‐19: A mechanistic approach toward attenuating the disease complications', Journal of Food Biochemistry, vol. 46, no. 12, p. e14445.
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Nutraceuticals have emerged as potential compounds to attenuate the COVID-19 complications. Precisely, these food additives strengthen the overall COVID treatment and enhance the immunity of a person. Such compounds have been used at a large scale, in almost every household due to their better affordability and easy access. Therefore, current research is focused on developing newer advanced formulations from potential drug candidates including nutraceuticals with desirable properties viz, affordability, ease of availability, ease of administration, stability under room temperature, and potentially longer shelf-lives. As such, various nutraceutical-based products such as compounds could be promising agents for effectively managing COVID-19 symptoms and complications. Most importantly, regular consumption of such nutraceuticals has been shown to boost the immune system and prevent viral infections. Nutraceuticals such as vitamins, amino acids, flavonoids like curcumin, and probiotics have been studied for their role in the prevention of COVID-19 symptoms such as fever, pain, malaise, and dry cough. In this review, we have critically reviewed the potential of various nutraceutical-based therapeutics for the management of COVID-19. We searched the information relevant to our topic from search engines such as PubMed and Scopus using COVID-19, nutraceuticals, probiotics, and vitamins as a keyword. Any scientific literature published in a language other than English was excluded. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Nutraceuticals possess both nutritional values and medicinal properties. They can aid in the prevention and treatment of diseases, as well as promote physical health and the immune system, normalizing body functions, and improving longevity. Recently, nutraceuticals such as probiotics, vitamins, polyunsaturated fatty acids, trace minerals, and medicinal plants have attracted considerable attention and are widely regarded as potential alternatives to current the...

Perera, D, Wang, Y-K, Lin, C-T, Nguyen, H & Chai, R 2022, 'Improving EEG-Based Driver Distraction Classification Using Brain Connectivity Estimators', Sensors, vol. 22, no. 16, pp. 6230-6230.
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This paper discusses a novel approach to an EEG (electroencephalogram)-based driver distraction classification by using brain connectivity estimators as features. Ten healthy volunteers with more than one year of driving experience and an average age of 24.3 participated in a virtual reality environment with two conditions, a simple math problem-solving task and a lane-keeping task to mimic the distracted driving task and a non-distracted driving task, respectively. Independent component analysis (ICA) was conducted on the selected epochs of six selected components relevant to the frontal, central, parietal, occipital, left motor, and right motor areas. Granger–Geweke causality (GGC), directed transfer function (DTF), partial directed coherence (PDC), and generalized partial directed coherence (GPDC) brain connectivity estimators were used to calculate the connectivity matrixes. These connectivity matrixes were used as features to train the support vector machine (SVM) with the radial basis function (RBF) and classify the distracted and non-distracted driving tasks. GGC, DTF, PDC, and GPDC connectivity estimators yielded the classification accuracies of 82.27%, 70.02%, 86.19%, and 80.95%, respectively. Further analysis of the PDC connectivity estimator was conducted to determine the best window to differentiate between the distracted and non-distracted driving tasks. This study suggests that the PDC connectivity estimator can yield better classification accuracy for driver distractions.

Pham, DX, Phung, AHT, Nguyen, HD, Bui, TD, Mai, LD, Tran, BNH, Tran, TS, Nguyen, TV & Ho-Pham, LT 2022, 'Trends in colorectal cancer incidence in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (1996–2015): Joinpoint regression and age–period–cohort analyses', Cancer Epidemiology, vol. 77, pp. 102113-102113.
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BACKGROUND: Little is known about the trends in colorectal cancer (CRC) in Vietnam. We aimed to investigate the trends in epidemiology and anatomical subsites of CRC in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. METHODS: Based on the Ho Chi Minh City Cancer Registry data during 1996-2015, we calculated the average annual percent changes (AAPCs) of the age-standardized incidence rates (ASRs) by sex, age groups, and anatomical subsites, using joinpoint regressions analysis. We further performed age-period-cohort (APC) analysis using the United States National Cancer Institute's web-based statistical tool to explore the underlying reason for the incidence trend. RESULTS: Over 20 years the overall ASR of CRC increased from 10.5 to 17.9 per 100,000, a 1.7-fold increase. CRC incidence elevated more rapidly in men (AAPC 4.7, 95%CI 2.2-7.3) than in women (AAPC 2.6, 95%CI 0.6-4.8). The highest and lowest increasing rates of ASRs were observed in the 50-64-year-old age group (AAPC 5.3, 95%CI 2.8-7.9) and < 50-year-old age group (AAPC 1.1, 95%CI -0.7 to 2.9), respectively. Regarding subsites, rectal cancer had the highest rate of increase (AAPC 3.3, 95%CI 1.0-5.7). Furthermore, the APC analysis indicated significant increases in CRC incidence in birth cohorts after 1975 in both genders. CONCLUSIONS: The CRC incidence in Ho Chi Minh City increased, with the more prominent rates being among men and older populations, in rectal subsites, and in people born after 1975. The upward trend of CRC incidence in Ho Chi Minh City may be due to the adoption of a westernized lifestyle.

Phan, TC, Pranata, A, Farragher, J, Bryant, A, Nguyen, HT & Chai, R 2022, 'Machine Learning Derived Lifting Techniques and Pain Self-Efficacy in People with Chronic Low Back Pain', Sensors, vol. 22, no. 17, pp. 6694-6694.
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This paper proposes an innovative methodology for finding how many lifting techniques people with chronic low back pain (CLBP) can demonstrate with camera data collected from 115 participants. The system employs a feature extraction algorithm to calculate the knee, trunk and hip range of motion in the sagittal plane, Ward’s method, a combination of K-means and Ensemble clustering method for classification algorithm, and Bayesian neural network to validate the result of Ward’s method and the combination of K-means and Ensemble clustering method. The classification results and effect size show that Ward clustering is the optimal method where precision and recall percentages of all clusters are above 90, and the overall accuracy of the Bayesian Neural Network is 97.9%. The statistical analysis reported a significant difference in the range of motion of the knee, hip and trunk between each cluster, F (9, 1136) = 195.67, p < 0.0001. The results of this study suggest that there are four different lifting techniques in people with CLBP. Additionally, the results show that even though the clusters demonstrated similar pain levels, one of the clusters, which uses the least amount of trunk and the most knee movement, demonstrates the lowest pain self-efficacy.

Pluss, MA, Novak, AR, Bennett, KJM, McBride, I, Panchuk, D, Coutts, AJ & Fransen, J 2022, 'Examining the game-specific practice behaviors of professional and semi-professional esports players: A 52-week longitudinal study', Computers in Human Behavior, vol. 137, pp. 107421-107421.
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Prasher, P, Sharma, M, Kumar Singh, S, Gulati, M, Kumar, D, Gupta, G, Kumar Chellappan, D, Gregory George Oliver, B, Wich, PR & Dua, K 2022, 'Versatility of acetalated dextran in nanocarriers targeting respiratory diseases', Materials Letters, vol. 323, pp. 132600-132600.
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Prasher, P, Sharma, M, Singh, SK, Gulati, M, Jha, NK, Gupta, PK, Gupta, G, Chellappan, DK, Zacconi, F, de Jesus Andreoli Pinto, T, Chan, Y, Liu, G, Paudel, KR, Hansbro, PM, George Oliver, BG & Dua, K 2022, 'Targeting mucus barrier in respiratory diseases by chemically modified advanced delivery systems', Chemico-Biological Interactions, vol. 365, pp. 110048-110048.
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Prasher, P, Sharma, M, Singh, SK, Gulati, M, Patravale, V, Oliver, BG & Dua, K 2022, 'Mucoadhesive particles: an emerging toolkit for advanced respiratory drug delivery', Nanomedicine, vol. 17, no. 12, pp. 821-826.
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Prasher, P, Sharma, M, Singh, SK, Haghi, M, MacLoughlin, R, Chellappan, DK, Gupta, G, Paudel, KR, Hansbro, PM, George Oliver, BG, Wich, PR & Dua, K 2022, 'Advances and applications of dextran-based nanomaterials targeting inflammatory respiratory diseases', Journal of Drug Delivery Science and Technology, vol. 74, pp. 103598-103598.
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Qu, Z, Lau, CW, Simoff, SJ, Kennedy, PJ, Nguyen, QV & Catchpoole, DR 2022, 'Review of Innovative Immersive Technologies for Healthcare Applications', Innovations in Digital Health, Diagnostics, and Biomarkers, vol. 2, no. 2022, pp. 27-39.
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ABSTRACTImmersive technologies, including virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR), can connect people using enhanced data visualizations to better involve stakeholders as integral members of the process. Immersive technologies have started to change the research on multidimensional genomic data analysis for disease diagnostics and treatments. Immersive technologies are highlighted in some research for health and clinical needs, especially for precision medicine innovation. The use of immersive technology for genomic data analysis has recently received attention from the research community. Genomic data analytics research seeks to integrate immersive technologies to build more natural human-computer interactions that allow better perception engagements. Immersive technologies, especially VR, help humans perceive the digital world as real and give learning output with lower performance errors and higher accuracy. However, there are limited reviews about immersive technologies used in healthcare and genomic data analysis with specific digital health applications. This paper contributes a comprehensive review of using immersive technologies for digital health applications, including patient-centric applications, medical domain education, and data analysis, especially genomic data visual analytics. We highlight the evolution of a visual analysis using VR as a case study for how immersive technologies step, can by step, move into the genomic data analysis domain. The discussion and conclusion summarize the current immersive technology applications' usability, innovation, and future work in the healthcare domain, and digital health data visual analytics.

Quinteros, SL, O'Brien, B & Donnelly, S 2022, 'Exploring the role of macrophages in determining the pathogenesis of liver fluke infection', Parasitology, vol. 149, no. 10, pp. 1364-1373.
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AbstractThe food-borne trematodes, Opisthorchis viverrini and Clonorchis sinensis, are classified as group 1 biological carcinogens: definitive causes of cancer. By contrast, infections with Fasciola hepatica, also a food-borne trematode of the phylum Platyhelminthes, are not carcinogenic. This review explores the premise that the differential activation of macrophages during infection with these food-borne trematodes is a major determinant of the pathological outcome of infection. Like most helminths, the latter stages of infection with all 3 flukes induce M2 macrophages, a phenotype that mediates the functional repair of tissue damaged by the feeding and migratory activities of the parasites. However, there is a critical difference in how the development of pro-inflammatory M1 macrophages is regulated during infection with these parasites. While the activation of the M1 macrophage phenotype is largely suppressed during the early stages of infection with F. hepatica, M1 macrophages predominate in the bile ducts following infection with O. viverrini and C. sinensis. The anti-microbial factors released by M1 macrophages create an environment conducive to mutagenesis, and hence the initiation of tumour formation. Subsequently, the tissue remodelling processes induced by the M2 macrophages promote the proliferation of mutated cells, and the expansion of cancerous tissue. This review will also explore the interactions between macrophages and parasite-derived signals, and their contributions to the stark differences in the innate immune responses to infection with these parasites.

Rad, HS, Shiravand, Y, Radfar, P, Ladwa, R, Perry, C, Han, X, Warkiani, ME, Adams, MN, Hughes, BGM, O'Byrne, K & Kulasinghe, A 2022, 'Understanding the tumor microenvironment in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma', Clinical & Translational Immunology, vol. 11, no. 6, p. e1397.
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AbstractHead and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) represents a heterogeneous group of tumors. While significant progress has been made using multimodal treatment, the 5‐year survival remains at 50%. Developing effective therapies, such as immunotherapy, will likely lead to better treatment of primary and metastatic disease. However, not all HNSCC tumors respond to immune checkpoint blockade therapy. Understanding the complex cellular composition and interactions of the tumor microenvironment is likely to lead to new knowledge for effective therapies and treatment resistance. In this review, we discuss HNSCC characteristics, predictive biomarkers, factors influencing immunotherapy response, with a focus on the tumor microenvironment.

Rad, MA, Mahmodi, H, Filipe, EC, Cox, TR, Kabakova, I & Tipper, JL 2022, 'Micromechanical characterisation of 3D bioprinted neural cell models using Brillouin microspectroscopy', Bioprinting, vol. 25, pp. e00179-e00179.
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Biofabrication of three-dimensional (3D) in vitro neural cell models that closely mimic the central nervous system (CNS) is an emerging field of research with applications from fundamental biology to regenerative medicine, and far reaching benefits for the economy, healthcare and the ethical use of animals. The micromechanical properties of such models are an important factor dictating the success of modelling outcomes in relation to accurate reproduction of the processes in native tissues. Characterising the micromechanical properties of such models non-destructively and over a prolonged span of time, however, are key challenges. Brillouin microspectroscopy (BM) could provide a solution to this problem since this technology is non-invasive, label-free and is capable of micro-scale 3D imaging. In this work, the micromechanical properties of 3D bioprinted neural cell models consisting of NG 108-15 neuronal cells and Gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) hydrogels of various concentrations were investigated using BM. We demonstrate changes in the volume-averaged (VA) and local micro-scale mechanical properties of these models over a 7 day period, in which the hydrogel component of the model are found to soften as the cells grow, multiply and form stiffer spheroid-type structures. These findings signify the necessity to resolve in microscopic detail the mechanics of in vitro 3D tissue models and suggest Brillouin microspectroscopy to be a suitable technology to bridge this gap.

Radfar, P, Aboulkheyr Es, H, Salomon, R, Kulasinghe, A, Ramalingam, N, Sarafraz-Yazdi, E, Thiery, JP & Warkiani, ME 2022, 'Single-cell analysis of circulating tumour cells: enabling technologies and clinical applications', Trends in Biotechnology, vol. 40, no. 9, pp. 1041-1060.
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Multimodal analysis of circulating tumour cells (CTCs) has the potential to provide remarkable insight for cancer development and metastasis. CTCs and CTC clusters investigation using single-cell analysis, enables researchers to gain crucial information on metastatic mechanisms and the genomic alterations responsible for drug resistance, empowering treatment, and management of cancer. Despite a plethora of CTC isolation technologies, careful attention to the strengths and weaknesses of each method should be considered in order to isolate these rare cells. Here, we provide an overview of cutting-edge technologies used for single-cell isolation and analysis of CTCs. Additionally, we highlight the biological features, clinical application, and the therapeutic potential of CTCs and CTC clusters using single-cell analysis platforms for cancer management.

Rahman, B, McEwen, A, Phillips, JL, Tucker, K, Goldstein, D & Jacobs, C 2022, 'Genetic and genomic learning needs of oncologists and oncology nurses in the era of precision medicine: a scoping review', Personalized Medicine, vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 139-153.
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Genetic and genomic data are increasingly guiding clinical care for cancer patients. To meet the growing demand for precision medicine, patient-facing oncology staff will be a part of leading the provision of genomic testing. A scoping review was undertaken to identify the range of genetic and genomic learning needs of oncologists and oncology nurses. Learning needs were reported relating to interpretation of genomic data, clinical decision-making, patient communication and counseling, and fundamentals of genetics and genomics. There was a lack of empirical research specific to oncology nurses and their learning needs in tumor sequencing. Our findings suggest that oncologists and oncology nurses need tailored support, education and training to improve their confidence and skills in adopting genomic testing into clinical practice.

Ramakrishna, VAS, Chamoli, U, Larosa, AG, Mukhopadhyay, SC, Prusty, BG & Diwan, AD 2022, 'Finite element modeling of temporal bone graft changes in XLIF: Quantifying biomechanical effects at adjacent levels', Journal of Orthopaedic Research, vol. 40, no. 6, pp. 1420-1435.
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AbstractExtreme lateral interbody fusion allows for the insertion of a large‐footprint interbody cage while maintaining the presence of natural stabilizing ligaments and the facets. It is unclear how the load‐distribution mechanisms through these structures alter with temporal changes in the bone graft. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of temporal bone graft changes on load distribution among the cage, graft, and surrounding spinal structures using finite element analysis. Thoracolumbosacral spine computed tomography data from an asymptomatic male subject were segmented into anatomical regions of interest and digitally stitched to generate a surface mesh of the lumbar spine (L1‐S1). The interbody cage was inserted into the L4‐L5 region during surface meshing. A volumetric mesh was generated and imported into finite element software for pre‐processing, running nonlinear static solves, and post‐processing. Temporal stiffening was simulated in the graft region with unbonded (Soft Callus, Temporal Stages 1–3, Solid Graft) and bonded (Partial Fusion, Full Fusion) contact. In flexion and extension, cage stress reduced by 20% from the soft callus to solid graft state. Force on the graft was directly related to its stiffness, and load‐share between the cage and graft improved with increasing graft stiffness, regardless of whether contact was fused with the endplates. Fused contact between the cage‐graft complex and the adjacent endplates shifted load‐distribution pathways from the ligaments and facets to the implant, however, these changes did not extend to adjacent levels. These results suggest that once complete fusion is achieved, the existing load paths are seemingly diminished.

Rao, A, DiGiacomo, M, Phillips, JL & Hickman, LD 2022, 'Health professionals' perspectives of integrating meditation into cardiovascular care: A descriptive qualitative study', Health & Social Care in the Community, vol. 30, no. 6.
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Preliminary research suggests that meditation may provide benefits in psychological health and well-being in people with cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, little is known about health professionals' perceptions of the barriers and facilitators to integrating meditation into CVD. A descriptive qualitative study design with semi-structured interviews was used to explore the acceptability of integrating meditation into outpatient CVD programs and the organisational factors that may affect its integration. Clinicians were recruited through purposive and snowball sampling. E-mail addresses were obtained from publicly listed profiles of cardiovascular and relevant health organisations. Interview questions included perspectives of organising or delivering meditation within a health setting, format of meditation delivery, organisational or other factors that facilitate or present barriers to integrating meditation into clinical practice, and perceived risks associated with integrating meditation in clinical settings. Verbatim transcripts were thematically analysed using an inductive approach and the Braun and Clarke (2006) method to identify themes within barriers and facilitators to implementation. Eighteen predominately female (61%) senior nursing and medical professionals (61%), as well as health managers (17%), psychologists (11%) and allied health professionals (11%), aged 40-60 years were interviewed between 18 May 2017 and 29 March 2018 in Australia via telephone, or face-to-face at a university or the participants' workplace. Three key themes were identified including: enhancing awareness of meditation within a biomedical model of care, building the evidence for meditation in CVD and finding an organisational fit for meditation in cardiovascular care. Meditation was perceived to sit outside the existing health service structure, which prioritised the delivery of medical care. Health professionals perceived that some physicians did not recognise the...

Rao, A, DiGiacomo, M, Phillips, JL, Newton, PJ, Zecchin, R, Denniss, AR & Hickman, LD 2022, 'Integrating MEditatioN inTO heaRt disease (The MENTOR study): Phase II randomised controlled feasibility study protocol', Collegian, vol. 29, no. 3, pp. 414-422.
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Background: Additional support services are required to identify and manage poor psychological health symptoms in one in five patients who attend cardiac rehabilitation programs. Meditation has been identified as a low-cost accessible adjunct to conventional therapies and has demonstrated a potential benefit to reducing cardiovascular risk. Aim: This protocol reports on the design and methods of a study that aims to determine the feasibility, acceptability and preliminary efficacy of integrating a meditation intervention into an existing cardiac rehabilitation program for the reduction of depression and anxiety symptoms in people with cardiovascular disease. Methods: This is a mixed methods phase II randomised controlled feasibility pilot study. Sixty patients will be randomised to meditation (1 session weekly for six weeks) and usual cardiac rehabilitation (6 week/12 session outpatient cardiac rehabilitation) or to usual cardiac rehabilitation. Measurements will be conducted at baseline, 6 weeks and 3 months. Preliminary outcomes include feasibility and acceptability of meditation (recruitment, screening, randomisation and attrition rates), and depression, anxiety, stress, salivary cortisol, blood pressure and heart rate outcomes. Participants will be invited to attend a semistructured interview at 6 weeks to explore their experiences of participating in meditation. Health professionals will also be interviewed to ascertain their perspectives of integrating meditation into cardiovascular secondary prevention programs. Discussion: This study will provide preliminary understanding of the feasibility acceptability and preliminary efficacy of meditation as an adjunct therapy for people who may require additional psychological health support. These results may also highlight signals of improvement in psychological health symptoms and inform the development of a future phase III randomised controlled trial.

Razavi Bazaz, S, Mihandust, A, Salomon, R, Joushani, HAN, Li, W, A. Amiri, H, Mirakhorli, F, Zhand, S, Shrestha, J, Miansari, M, Thierry, B, Jin, D & Ebrahimi Warkiani, M 2022, 'Zigzag microchannel for rigid inertial separation and enrichment (Z-RISE) of cells and particles', Lab on a Chip, vol. 22, no. 21, pp. 4093-4109.
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Overview of the zigzag microchannel for rigid inertial separation and enrichment (Z-RISE). The proposed device has superior performance for particle focusing and separation.

Razmovski-Naumovski, V, West, PA, Bellemore, F, Byfieldt, N, Bellamy, D, Chye, R, Clark, K, Martin, JH, Fazekas, B, Phillips, JL & Agar, MR 2022, 'Defining the trials nurses’ role in operationalising a medicinal cannabis clinical trial', Collegian, vol. 29, no. 3, pp. 370-378.
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Background: With increasing use of medicinal cannabis for symptom management, clinical trials nurses need to consider the various legal, social, ethical, and interdisciplinary care issues of implementing these clinical trials, especially in a palliative care population. Aim: To define the trials nurses’ role in operationalising a medicinal cannabis pharmacokinetic inpatient trial in an advanced cancer population. Methods: A qualitative, descriptive design incorporating case study methodology was used. Data were collected from minuted meetings, field notes, telephone, and email discussions involving trials nurses at two palliative care sites. Data were integrated and synthesised to identify the key considerations required to operationalise the trial and define the trials nurses’ role. Findings: Three key considerations were identified: (i) Normalising the trial, (ii) Creating the environment to undertake the trial, and (iii) Managing the complexity. The trials nurses’ role was explored through subthemes of these considerations including: their understanding of the purpose of the research and training in the protocol; organising inpatient resources, pharmacy requirements and managing the external scrutiny; participant recruitment, staffing requirements, safety, and supporting caregivers. Discussion: This study emphasises the multifactorial role of the trials nurses in managing a complex palliative care trial, and the importance of their early involvement and recognition as the vital link between all parties. Conclusion: Defining the trials nurses’ role, within the confines of the protocol, the context of efficient nursing processes and ensuring a patient-centred approach enabled the operationalisation of a Phase I/II medicinal cannabis trial which will have global impact.

Reddacliff, C, Hemsley, B, Smith, R, Dalton, S, Jones, S, Fitzpatrick, A, Given, F, Kelly, J, Lawson, X, Darcy, S, Debono, D, Benfer, K & Balandin, S 2022, 'Examining the Content and Outcomes of Training in Dysphagia and Mealtime Management: A Systematic Review Informing Co-Design of New Training', American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, vol. 31, no. 3, pp. 1535-1552.
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Purpose: Dysphagia (swallowing difficulty) impacts physical health, quality of life, and mealtime enjoyment. Staff who provide mealtime assistance to people with dysphagia require adequate training to help ensure that the mealtimes are safe and enjoyable. This systematic review examined literature relating to training in dysphagia (e.g., recognizing signs and symptoms) and mealtime assistance, its components, and benefits for people with dysphagia. Method: In July 2020, five scientific databases were searched for papers meeting the inclusion criteria relating to mealtime assistance training. The quality of the studies was evaluated using the Quality Assessment Tool for Studies of Diverse Design, with scores ranging from 38.1% to 83.3%. We completed a qualitative synthesis using the data extracted from the included studies. Results: Twenty-four studies met the inclusion criteria. Participants in these studies benefited from both group training and one-on-one training. Training programs had many formats including computer-based, face-to-face, individual training, and group training. Each included study demonstrated some level of positive impact to the learners, such as improved knowledge and skills in mealtime management for people with dysphagia. No studies reported negative outcomes. Training duration ranged from 30 min to 5 days. Conclusions: The benefits of different components of mealtime training (e.g., group training, or face-to-face training) for mealtime assistance for people with dysphagia were reviewed. Further research is needed to compare the effectivenes...

Richardson, E, McEwen, A, Newton-John, T, Crook, A & Jacobs, C 2022, 'Correction: Incorporating patient perspectives in the development of a core outcome set for reproductive genetic carrier screening: a sequential systematic review', European Journal of Human Genetics, vol. 30, no. 7, pp. 866-867.
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In Fig. 2 of this article, there is no references included; the figure should have appeared as shown below.

Richardson, E, McEwen, A, Newton-John, T, Crook, A & Jacobs, C 2022, 'Incorporating patient perspectives in the development of a core outcome set for reproductive genetic carrier screening: a sequential systematic review', European Journal of Human Genetics, vol. 30, no. 7, pp. 756-765.
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AbstractThere is currently no consensus on the key outcomes of reproductive genetic carrier screening (RGCS). This has led to a large amount of variability in approaches to research, limiting direct comparison and synthesis of findings. In a recently published systematic review of quantitative studies on RGCS, we found that few studies incorporated patient-reported outcomes. In response to this gap, we conducted a sequential systematic review of qualitative studies to identify outcomes exploring the patient experience of RGCS. In conjunction with the review of quantitative studies, these outcomes will be used to inform the development of a core outcome set. Text excerpts relevant to outcomes, including quotes and themes, were extracted verbatim and deductively coded as outcomes. We conducted a narrative synthesis to group outcomes within domains previously defined in our review of quantitative studies, and identify any new domains that were unique to qualitative studies. Seventy-eight outcomes were derived from qualitative studies and grouped into 19 outcome domains. Three new outcome domains were identified; ‘goals of pre- and post-test genetic counselling’, ‘acceptability of further testing and alternative reproductive options’, and ‘perceived utility of RGCS’. The identification of outcome domains that were not identified in quantitative studies indicates that outcomes reflecting the patient perspective may be under-represented in the quantitative literature on this topic. Further work should focus on ensuring that outcomes reflect the real world needs and concerns of patients in order to maximise translation of research findings into clinical practice.

Richardson, E, McEwen, A, Newton-John, T, Crook, A & Jacobs, C 2022, 'Outcomes of Importance to Patients in Reproductive Genetic Carrier Screening: A Qualitative Study to Inform a Core Outcome Set', Journal of Personalized Medicine, vol. 12, no. 8, pp. 1310-1310.
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There is significant heterogeneity in the outcomes assessed across studies of reproductive genetic carrier screening (RGCS). Only a small number of studies have measured patient-reported outcomes or included patients in the selection of outcomes that are meaningful to them. This study was a cross-sectional, qualitative study of 15 patient participants conducted to inform a core outcome set. A core outcome set is an approach to facilitate standardisation in outcome reporting, allowing direct comparison of outcomes across studies to enhance understanding of impacts and potential harms. The aim of this study was to incorporate the patient perspective in the development of a core outcome set by eliciting a detailed understanding of outcomes of importance to patients. Data were collected via online, semi-structured interviews using a novel method informed by co-design and the nominal group technique. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Outcomes elicited from patient stakeholder interviews highlighted several under-explored areas for future research. This includes the role of grief and loss in increased risk couples, the role of empowerment in conceptualising the utility of RGCS, the impact of societal context and barriers that contribute to negative experiences, and the role of genetic counselling in ensuring that information needs are met and informed choice facilitated as RGCS becomes increasingly routine. Future research should focus on incorporating outcomes that accurately reflect patient needs and experience.

Richardson, E, McEwen, A, Newton-John, T, Crook, A & Jacobs, C 2022, 'Systematic review of outcomes in studies of reproductive genetic carrier screening: Towards development of a core outcome set', Genetics in Medicine, vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 1-14.
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PURPOSE: Current practice recommendations support the widespread implementation of reproductive genetic carrier screening (RGCS). These consensus-based recommendations highlight a research gap, with findings from current studies being insufficient to meet the standard required for more rigorous evidence-based recommendations. This systematic review assessed methodological aspects of studies on RGCS to inform the need for a core outcome set. METHODS: We conducted a systematic search to identify peer-reviewed published studies offering population-based RGCS. Study designs, outcomes, and measurement methods were extracted. A narrative synthesis was conducting using an existing outcome taxonomy and criteria used in the evaluation of genetic screening programs as frameworks. RESULTS: Sixty-five publications were included. We extracted 120 outcomes representing 24 outcome domains. Heterogeneity in outcome selection, measurement methods and time points of assessment was extensive. Quality appraisal raised concerns for bias. We found that reported outcomes had limited applicability to criteria used to evaluate genetic screening programs. CONCLUSION: Despite a large body of literature, diverse approaches to research have limited the conclusions that can be cumulatively drawn from this body of evidence. Consensus regarding meaningful outcomes for evaluation of RGCS would be a valuable first step in working towards evidence-based practice recommendations, supporting the development of a core outcome set.

Ridlen, R, McGrath, K & Gorrie, CA 2022, 'Animal models of compression spinal cord injury', Journal of Neuroscience Research, vol. 100, no. 12, pp. 2201-2212.
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AbstractCompression spinal cord injuries are a common cause of morbidity in people who experience a spinal cord injury (SCI). Either as a by‐product of a traumatic injury or due to nontraumatic conditions such as cervical myelitis, compression injuries are growing in prevalence clinically and many attempts of animal replication have been described within the literature. These models, however, often focus on the traumatic side of injury or mimic short‐term injuries that are not representative of the majority of compression SCI. Of this, nontraumatic spinal cord injuries are severely understudied and have an increased prevalence in elderly populations, adults, and children. Therefore, there is a need to critically evaluate the current animal models of compression SCI and their suitability as a method for clinically relevant data that can help reduce morbidity and mortality of SCI. In this review, we reviewed the established and emerging methods of animal models of compression SCI. These models are the clip, balloon, solid spacer, expanding polymer, remote, weight drop, calibrated forceps, screw, and strap methods. These methods showed that there is a large reliance on the use of laminectomy to induce injury. Furthermore, the age range of many studies does not reflect the elderly and young populations that commonly suffer from compression injuries. It is therefore important to have techniques and methods that are able to minimize secondary effects of the surgeries, and are representative of the clinical cases seen so that treatments and interventions can be developed that are specific.

Roberts, AGK, Catchpoole, DR & Kennedy, PJ 2022, 'Identification of differentially distributed gene expression and distinct sets of cancer-related genes identified by changes in mean and variability', NAR Genomics and Bioinformatics, vol. 4, no. 1, p. lqab124.
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ABSTRACT There is increasing evidence that changes in the variability or overall distribution of gene expression are important both in normal biology and in diseases, particularly cancer. Genes whose expression differs in variability or distribution without a difference in mean are ignored by traditional differential expression-based analyses. Using a Bayesian hierarchical model that provides tests for both differential variability and differential distribution for bulk RNA-seq data, we report here an investigation into differential variability and distribution in cancer. Analysis of eight paired tumour–normal datasets from The Cancer Genome Atlas confirms that differential variability and distribution analyses are able to identify cancer-related genes. We further demonstrate that differential variability identifies cancer-related genes that are missed by differential expression analysis, and that differential expression and differential variability identify functionally distinct sets of potentially cancer-related genes. These results suggest that differential variability analysis may provide insights into genetic aspects of cancer that would not be revealed by differential expression, and that differential distribution analysis may allow for more comprehensive identification of cancer-related genes than analyses based on changes in mean or variability alone.

Rodrigo, N, Chen, H, Pollock, CA & Glastras, SJ 2022, 'Preconception weight loss improves fertility and maternal outcomes in obese mice', Journal of Endocrinology, vol. 253, no. 1, pp. 27-38.
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Women with obesity have higher incidences of infertility, with longer time to conception and increased risk of pregnancy complications compared to women with normal body weight. There is a lack of evidence demonstrating the benefit of preconception maternal weight loss on fertility and pregnancy outcomes. We aimed to determine if preconception weight loss, either with diet modification or glucose-like peptide 1 receptor agonist liraglutide, improves maternal weight, fertility, and pregnancy outcomes. C57BL/6 female mice were fed either a high-fat diet (HFD) or chow for 8 weeks. HFD-fed dams were administered liraglutide (0.3 mg/kg, s.c., for 4 weeks) or switched to chow to induce weight loss. Prior to mating, liraglutide was ceased and mice continued on HFD. Mice in the ‘diet switch’ group continued on chow. Pregnancy rates were recorded. Maternal anthropometry and glucose tolerance were measured before and after the intervention and at late gestation. Offspring outcomes were assessed. Liraglutide or diet switch led to weight reduction, improved insulin resistance (P< 0.001), and enhanced fertility, particularly in the liraglutide group (P< 0.005). Liraglutide-treated mice had significantly higher gestational weight gain (GWG) compared to the diet switch group (P< 0.05), with similar weight and glucose tolerance in late gestation to HFD mice. In contrast, diet switch maintained similar weight and glucose tolerance in late gestation to control mice. Pre-pregnancy weight intervention with liraglutide was effective at restoring fertility. Diet modification also improved fertility and avoided catch up weight gain in pregnancy. Liraglutide may be a therapeutic strategy for weight loss to prepare for pregnancy. However, our study provides caution about the potential for excessive GWG without diet intervention in pregnancy.

Rohilla, S, Awasthi, R, Mehta, M, Chellappan, DK, Gupta, G, Gulati, M, Singh, SK, Anand, K, Oliver, BG, Dua, K & Dureja, H 2022, 'Preparation and Evaluation of Gefitinib Containing Nanoliposomal Formulation for Lung Cancer Therapy', BioNanoScience, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 241-255.
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Roux, L, Gustin, SM & Newton-John, TRO 2022, 'To persist or not to persist? The dilemma of goal adjustment in chronic pain', Pain, vol. 163, no. 5, pp. 820-823.
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Rzhevskiy, AS, Kapitannikova, AY, Butnaru, DV, Shpot, EV, Joosse, SA, Zvyagin, AV & Ebrahimi Warkiani, M 2022, 'Liquid Biopsy in Diagnosis and Prognosis of Non-Metastatic Prostate Cancer', Biomedicines, vol. 10, no. 12, pp. 3115-3115.
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Currently, sensitive and specific methods for the detection and prognosis of early stage PCa are lacking. To establish the diagnosis and further identify an appropriate treatment strategy, prostate specific antigen (PSA) blood test followed by tissue biopsy have to be performed. The combination of tests is justified by the lack of a highly sensitive, specific, and safe single test. Tissue biopsy is specific but invasive and may have severe side effects, and therefore is inappropriate for screening of the disease. At the same time, the PSA blood test, which is conventionally used for PCa screening, has low specificity and may be elevated in the case of noncancerous prostate tumors and inflammatory conditions, including benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostatitis. Thus, diverse techniques of liquid biopsy have been investigated to supplement or replace the existing tests of prostate cancer early diagnosis and prognostics. Here, we provide a review on the advances in diagnosis and prognostics of non-metastatic prostate cancer by means of various biomarkers extracted via liquid biopsy, including circulating tumor cells, exosomal miRNAs, and circulating DNAs.

Rzhevskiy, AS, Kapitannikova, AY, Vasilescu, SA, Karashaeva, TA, Razavi Bazaz, S, Taratkin, MS, Enikeev, DV, Lekarev, VY, Shpot, EV, Butnaru, DV, Deyev, SM, Thiery, JP, Zvyagin, AV & Ebrahimi Warkiani, M 2022, 'Isolation of Circulating Tumor Cells from Seminal Fluid of Patients with Prostate Cancer Using Inertial Microfluidics', Cancers, vol. 14, no. 14, pp. 3364-3364.
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Prostate cancer (PCa) diagnosis is primarily based on prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing and prostate tissue biopsies. However, PSA testing has relatively low specificity, while tissue biopsies are highly invasive and have relatively low sensitivity at early stages of PCa. As an alternative, we developed a technique of liquid biopsy, based on isolation of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from seminal fluid (SF). The recovery of PCa cells from SF was demonstrated using PCa cell lines, achieving an efficiency and throughput as high as 89% (±3.8%) and 1.7 mL min−1, respectively, while 99% (±0.7%) of sperm cells were disposed of. The introduced approach was further tested in a clinical setting by collecting and processing SF samples of PCa patients. The yield of isolated CTCs measured as high as 613 cells per SF sample in comparison with that of 6 cells from SF of healthy donors, holding significant promise for PCa diagnosis. The correlation analysis of the isolated CTC numbers with the standard prognostic parameters such as Gleason score and PSA serum level showed correlation coefficient values at 0.40 and 0.73, respectively. Taken together, our results show promise in the developed liquid biopsy technique to augment the existing diagnosis and prognosis of PCa.

Salis, Z, Keen, H, Gallego, B, Nguyen, TV & Sainsbury-Salis, A 2022, 'OP0227 WEIGHT LOSS IS ASSOCIATED WITH REDUCED INCIDENCE AND PROGRESSION OF STRUCTURAL DEFECTS IN KNEE OSTEOARTHRITIS, AS ASSESSED BY RADIOGRAPHY OVER 4 TO 5 YEARS: A PROSPECTIVE MULTI-COHORT STUDY', Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, vol. 81, no. Suppl 1, pp. 149.2-150.
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BackgroundOverweight and obesity are associated with greater incidence and progression of the structural defects of knee osteoarthritis, but it is unknown if weight loss is of benefit.ObjectivesTo describe the association between change in body mass index (BMI) and the incidence and progression of structural defects in knee osteoarthritis.MethodsScores from radiographic analyses of knees at baseline and at 4 to 5 years’ follow up were obtained from three independent data sets (the OAI and MOST data sets from the United States from America, and the CHECK data set from the Netherlands). The exposure of interest was change in BMI from baseline to 4 to 5 years’ follow up. To investigate the incidence of structural defects of knee osteoarthritis, we selected a total of 9732 knees (from 5802 participants) that had a Kellgren-Lawrence (KL) grade of knee osteoarthritis at baseline of ‘none’ (0) or ‘doubtful’ (1) (the ‘incidence cohort’), and determined the odds of having a KL grade at follow-up of ‘minimal’ (2), ‘moderate’ (3), or ‘severe’ (4). To investigate progression, we selected a total of 6084 knees (from 3996 participants) that had a KL grade at baseline of ‘minimal’ (2), ‘moderate’ (3), or ‘severe’ (4) (the ‘progression cohort’), and determined the odds of increasing by 1 or more KL grades by follow up. The degradation of three individual structural features of knee osteoarthritis (i.e., joint space narrowing, osteophytes on the femoral surface, and osteophytes on the tibial surface), on both the medial and lateral sides of the knee, were also investigated in both the incidence and progression cohorts. Here, degradation was defined as an increase by 1 or more Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI) grades.Results

Schaefer, I, DiGiacomo, M, Heneka, N, Panozzo, S, Luckett, T & Phillips, JL 2022, 'Palliative care needs and experiences of people in prison: A systematic review and meta-synthesis', Palliative Medicine, vol. 36, no. 3, pp. 443-461.
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Background: Globally, the prison population is growing and ageing, as is the need for palliative care. Yet, little is known about how people in prison perceive palliative care provision in this setting. Aims: To identify the: (i) perceptions of palliative care provision and dying in custody by people in prison; and (ii) perceived barriers and facilitators of person-centred palliative care provision in prison. Design: A systematic review and meta-synthesis was registered and undertaken in accordance with the reporting guidelines. Data Sources: Keywords and MeSH headings encompassing (i) palliative care, end-of-life care, death; and (ii) prison; were used to search Pubmed, Medline, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Web of Science, CINCH and ProQuest Central. Articles published in English, from high income countries, and containing qualitative data exploring perceptions of people in prison of palliative care in custody were included. Findings were reporting using the ENTREQ guidelines. Findings: Of the 2193 articles identified, 12 were included. Experiences of people in prison regarding palliative care related to two themes: (1) expectations versus experiences of palliative care; and (2) prison context complicates access to and provision of palliative care. People in prison with palliative care needs want to feel safe, cared for, and acknowledged as they face an expected death. The prison environment can severely restrict access to palliative care, leaving people in prison feeling isolated and powerless. Conclusions: People in prison expect to receive high-quality palliative care, but their experiences often do not match...

Schweinsberg, S & Darcy, S 2022, 'Climate Change, Time and Tourism Knowledge: The Relativity of Simultaneity', Sustainability, vol. 14, no. 23, pp. 16220-16220.
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Climate clocks are currently ticking down to a point in time when it will be impossible to arrest the rate of CO2 emissions within the bounds of the parameters set by the Paris Climate Agreement. The tourism academy has been at the forefront of efforts to draw attention to the climate threat and to develop adaptation and mitigation responses in conjunction with industry. However, whilst the tourism academy is generally said to be in lock-step with the urgency of the climate threat and tourism’s need to respond, outliers do exist. Why might a tourism scholar view the urgency of the climate threat differently from his or her colleagues? Drawing on conceptual insights from Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity, the present paper explores the sociological framing of time in relation to tourism academics and the implications for the development of a tourism knowledge force-field as a foundation for tourism knowledge creation.

Schweinsberg, S, Sharpley, R & Darcy, S 2022, 'Competitive positioning of tourism academic knowledge', Tourism Management, vol. 91, pp. 104502-104502.
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Shahrokhi, S, Dubajic, M, Dai, Z, Bhattacharyya, S, Mole, RA, Rule, KC, Bhadbhade, M, Tian, R, Mussakhanuly, N, Guan, X, Yin, Y, Nielsen, MP, Hu, L, Lin, C, Chang, SLY, Wang, D, Kabakova, IV, Conibeer, G, Bremner, S, Li, X, Cazorla, C & Wu, T 2022, 'Anomalous Structural Evolution and Glassy Lattice in Mixed‐Halide Hybrid Perovskites', Small, vol. 18, no. 21, pp. e2200847-2200847.
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AbstractHybrid halide perovskites have emerged as highly promising photovoltaic materials because of their exceptional optoelectronic properties, which are often optimized via compositional engineering like mixing halides. It is well established that hybrid perovskites undergo a series of structural phase transitions as temperature varies. In this work, the authors find that phase transitions are substantially suppressed in mixed‐halide hybrid perovskite single crystals of MAPbI3‐xBrx (MA = CH3NH3+ and x = 1 or 2) using a complementary suite of diffraction and spectroscopic techniques. Furthermore, as a general behavior, multiple crystallographic phases coexist in mixed‐halide perovskites over a wide temperature range, and a slightly distorted monoclinic phase, hitherto unreported for hybrid perovskites, is dominant at temperatures above 100 K. The anomalous structural evolution is correlated with the glassy behavior of organic cations and optical phonons in mixed‐halide perovskites. This work demonstrates the complex interplay between composition engineering and lattice dynamics in hybrid perovskites, shedding new light on their unique properties.

Sharma, P, Beck, D, Murtha, LA, Figtree, G, Boyle, A & Gentile, C 2022, 'Fibulin-3 Deficiency Protects Against Myocardial Injury Following Ischaemia/ Reperfusion in in vitro Cardiac Spheroids', Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine, vol. 9, p. 913156.
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Myocardial infarction (MI, or heart attack) is a leading cause of death worldwide. Myocardial ischaemia reperfusion (I/R) injury typical of MI events is also associated with the development of cardiac fibrosis and heart failure in patients. Fibulin-3 is an extracellular matrix component that plays a role in regulating MI response in the heart. In this study, we generated and compared in vitro cardiac spheroids (CSs) from wild type (WT) and fibulin-3 knockout (Fib-3 KO) mice. These were then exposed to pathophysiological changes in oxygen (O2) concentrations to mimic an MI event. We finally measured changes in contractile function, cell death, and mRNA expression levels of cardiovascular disease genes between WT and Fib-3 KO CSs. Our results demonstrated that there are significant differences in growth kinetics and endothelial network formation between WT and Fib-3 KO CSs, however, they respond similarly to changes in O2 concentrations. Fib-3 deficiency resulted in an increase in viability of cells and improvement in contraction frequency and fractional shortening compared to WT I/R CSs. Gene expression analyses demonstrated that Fib-3 deficiency inhibits I/R injury and cardiac fibrosis and promotes angiogenesis in CSs. Altogether, our findings suggest that Fib-3 deficiency makes CSs resistant to I/R injury and associated cardiac fibrosis and helps to improve the vascular network in CSs.

Sharma, P, Liu Chung Ming, C & Gentile, C 2022, 'In vitro modeling of myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury with murine or human 3D cardiac spheroids', STAR Protocols, vol. 3, no. 4, pp. 101751-101751.
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Myocardial infarction (MI) is the primary cause of death worldwide, but there are no clinically relevant models to study MI. Here, we describe an ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury model typical of MI using mouse or human 3D in vitro cardiac spheroids (CSs). First, we demonstrated the culture and maintenance of CSs. Then, we detailed how to expose CSs to pathophysiological oxygen concentrations to induce I/R injury. The protocol can be used in combination with viability, contractility, and mRNA expression level measurements. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Sharma et al. (2022).

Sharma, P, Liu Chung Ming, C, Wang, X, Bienvenu, LA, Beck, D, Figtree, G, Boyle, A & Gentile, C 2022, 'Biofabrication of advanced in vitro 3D models to study ischaemic and doxorubicin-induced myocardial damage', Biofabrication, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 025003-025003.
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Abstract Current preclinical in vitro and in vivo models of cardiac injury typical of myocardial infarction (MI, or heart attack) and drug induced cardiotoxicity mimic only a few aspects of these complex scenarios. This leads to a poor translation of findings from the bench to the bedside. In this study, we biofabricated for the first time advanced in vitro models of MI and doxorubicin (DOX) induced injury by exposing cardiac spheroids (CSs) to pathophysiological changes in oxygen (O2) levels or DOX treatment. Then, contractile function and cell death was analyzed in CSs in control verses I/R and DOX CSs. For a deeper dig into cell death analysis, 3D rendering analyses and mRNA level changes of cardiac damage-related genes were compared in control verses I/R and DOX CSs. Overall, in vitro CSs recapitulated major features typical of the in vivo MI and drug induced cardiac damages, such as adapting intracellular alterations to O2 concentration changes and incubation with cardiotoxic drug, mimicking the contraction frequency and fractional shortening and changes in mRNA expression levels for genes regulating sarcomere structure, calcium transport, cell cycle, cardiac remodelling and signal transduction. Taken together, our study supports the use of I/R and DOX CSs as advanced in vitro models to study MI and DOX-induced cardiac damge by recapitulating their complex in vivo scenario.

Sharp, T, Grandou, C, Coutts, AJ & Wallace, L 2022, 'The Effects of High-Intensity Multimodal Training in Apparently Healthy Populations: A Systematic Review', Sports Medicine - Open, vol. 8, no. 1, p. 43.
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Abstract Background High-intensity multimodal training (HIMT) is emerging as a popular training method that combines aerobic and resistance training throughout a single exercise session. The current literature is limited by a lack of terminology that broadly encompasses all styles of combined aerobic and resistance training. The magnitude of chronic or long-term (i.e.  ≥ 4 weeks) effects of HIMT participation on aerobic and muscular fitness also remains unclear. Additionally, one of many complex reasons for the growing popularity of HIMT may be attributed to the affective response to exercise, namely levels of enjoyment. However, this concept is not yet well understood across all styles of HIMT. A comprehensive systematic review is required to synthesise the available literature and attempt to provide an operational definition of HIMT to capture the breadth of combined training styles that exist. Objective The objective of this systematic review was to determine the chronic effects of HIMT participation on aerobic and muscular fitness and to compare HIMT to established concurrent training methods. Enjoyability and other adherence-related subjective responses were also examined in HIMT participants. This review critically assessed the level of evidence and feasibility of current HIMT guidelines. Methods A systematic literature search was conducted on PubMed, Web of Science and SPORTDiscus to identify studies up until March 2021. Results A total of 20 studies were included for review. Studies generally reported moderate to large effe...

Shojaei, M, Shamshirian, A, Monkman, J, Grice, L, Tran, M, Tan, CW, Teo, SM, Rodrigues Rossi, G, McCulloch, TR, Nalos, M, Raei, M, Razavi, A, Ghasemian, R, Gheibi, M, Roozbeh, F, Sly, PD, Spann, KM, Chew, KY, Zhu, Y, Xia, Y, Wells, TJ, Senegaglia, AC, Kuniyoshi, CL, Franck, CL, dos Santos, AFR, Noronha, LD, Motamen, S, Valadan, R, Amjadi, O, Gogna, R, Madan, E, Alizadeh-Navaei, R, Lamperti, L, Zuñiga, F, Nova-Lamperti, E, Labarca, G, Knippenberg, B, Herwanto, V, Wang, Y, Phu, A, Chew, T, Kwan, T, Kim, K, Teoh, S, Pelaia, TM, Kuan, WS, Jee, Y, Iredell, J, O’Byrne, K, Fraser, JF, Davis, MJ, Belz, GT, Warkiani, ME, Gallo, CS, Souza-Fonseca-Guimaraes, F, Nguyen, Q, Mclean, A, Kulasinghe, A, Short, KR & Tang, B 2022, 'IFI27 transcription is an early predictor for COVID-19 outcomes, a multi-cohort observational study', Frontiers in Immunology, vol. 13, p. 1060438.
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PurposeRobust biomarkers that predict disease outcomes amongst COVID-19 patients are necessary for both patient triage and resource prioritisation. Numerous candidate biomarkers have been proposed for COVID-19. However, at present, there is no consensus on the best diagnostic approach to predict outcomes in infected patients. Moreover, it is not clear whether such tools would apply to other potentially pandemic pathogens and therefore of use as stockpile for future pandemic preparedness.MethodsWe conducted a multi-cohort observational study to investigate the biology and the prognostic role of interferon alpha-inducible protein 27 (IFI27) in COVID-19 patients.ResultsWe show that IFI27 is expressed in the respiratory tract of COVID-19 patients and elevated IFI27 expression in the lower respiratory tract is associated with the presence of a high viral load. We further demonstrate that the systemic host response, as measured by blood IFI27 expression, is associated with COVID-19 infection. For clinical outcome prediction (e.g., respiratory failure), IFI27 expression displays a high sensitivity (0.95) and specificity (0.83), outperforming other known predictors of COVID-19 outcomes. Furthermore, IFI27 is upregulated in the blood of infected patients in response to other respiratory viruses. For example, in the pandemic H1N1/09 influenza virus infection, IFI27-like genes were highly upregulated in the blood samples of severely infected patients.ConclusionThese data suggest that prognostic biomarkers targeting the family of IFI27

Shrestha, J, Razavi Bazaz, S, Ding, L, Vasilescu, S, Idrees, S, Söderström, B, Hansbro, PM, Ghadiri, M & Ebrahimi Warkiani, M 2022, 'Rapid separation of bacteria from primary nasal samples using inertial microfluidics', Lab on a Chip, vol. 23, no. 1, pp. 146-156.
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Development of an inertial microfluidic device based on a zigzag configuration for rapid separation of bacteria from primary nasal samples.

Shukla, MK, Dubey, A, Pandey, S, Singh, SK, Gupta, G, Prasher, P, Chellappan, DK, Oliver, BG, Kumar, D & Dua, K 2022, 'Managing Apoptosis in Lung Diseases using Nano-assisted Drug Delivery System', Current Pharmaceutical Design, vol. 28, no. 39, pp. 3202-3211.
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Abstract:Several factors exist that limit the efficacy of lung cancer treatment. These may be tumor-specificdelivery of therapeutics, airway geometry, humidity, clearance mechanisms, presence of lung diseases, andtherapy against tumor cell resistance. Advancements in drug delivery using nanotechnology based multifunctionalnanocarriers, have emerged as a viable method for treating lung cancer with more efficacy and fewer adverseeffects. This review does a thorough and critical examination of effective nano-enabled approaches forlung cancer treatment, such as nano-assisted drug delivery systems. In addition, to therapeutic effectiveness,researchers have been working to determine several strategies to produce nanotherapeutics by adjusting thesize, drug loading, transport, and retention. Personalized lung tumor therapies using sophisticated nano modalitieshave the potential to provide great therapeutic advantages based on individual unique genetic markers anddisease profiles. Overall, this review provides comprehensive information on newer nanotechnological prospectsfor improving the management of apoptosis in lung cancer.

Shukla, SD, Shastri, MD, Vanka, SK, Jha, NK, Dureja, H, Gupta, G, Chellappan, DK, Oliver, BG, Dua, K & Walters, EH 2022, 'Correction to: Targeting intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) to reduce rhinovirus-induced acute exacerbations in chronic respiratory diseases', Inflammopharmacology, vol. 30, no. 4, pp. 1477-1477.
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Shukla, SD, Shastri, MD, Vanka, SK, Jha, NK, Dureja, H, Gupta, G, Chellappan, DK, Oliver, BG, Dua, K & Walters, EH 2022, 'Targeting intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) to reduce rhinovirus-induced acute exacerbations in chronic respiratory diseases', Inflammopharmacology, vol. 30, no. 3, pp. 725-735.
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AbstractThe chronic respiratory non-communicable diseases, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are among the leading causes of global mortality and morbidity. Individuals suffering from these diseases are particularly susceptible to respiratory infections caused by bacterial and/or viral pathogens, which frequently result in exacerbation of symptoms, lung function decline, frequent hospital emergency visits and increased socioeconomic burden. Human rhinoviruses (HRV) remain the major viral pathogen group implicated in exacerbations of both asthma and COPD. The rhinoviral entry into the host lung epithelium is facilitated primarily by the adhesion site (“receptor”) intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), coincidentally expressed on the respiratory epithelium in these conditions. Multiple observations of increased airway ICAM-1 protein in asthmatics, smokers and smoking-related COPD have been recorded in the literature. However, the lack of robust therapies for COPD in particular has triggered a renewed interest in assessing receptor antagonism-based anti-viral strategies for treatment of intercurrent viral infections in those with pre-existing chronic lung diseases. Given the crucial role ICAM-1 plays in facilitating HRV adhesion and, thus, transmissibility to the host respiratory system, as well as the up-regulation of ICAM-1 by smoking, we summarize the role of HRV in smoking-induced COPD and especially highlight the role of ICAM-1 in epithelial viral adhesion and chronic lung disease progression. Further, the review also sheds light specifically on evolving precision therapeutic strategies in blocking ICAM-1 for preventing viral adhesion and exacerbations of COPD.

Skarding, J, Hellmich, M, Gabrys, B & Musial, K 2022, 'A Robust Comparative Analysis of Graph Neural Networks on Dynamic Link Prediction', IEEE Access, vol. 10, no. 99, pp. 64146-64160.
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Graph neural networks (GNNs) are rapidly becoming the dominant way to learn on graph-structured data. Link prediction is a near-universal benchmark for new GNN models. Many advanced models such as Dynamic graph neural networks (DGNNs) specifically target dynamic graphs. However, these models, particularly DGNNs, are rarely compared to each other or existing heuristics. Different works evaluate their models in different ways, thus one cannot compare evaluation metrics and their results directly. Motivated by this, we perform a comprehensive comparison study. We compare link prediction heuristics, GNNs, discrete DGNNs, and continuous DGNNs on the dynamic link prediction task. In total we summarize the results of over 3200 experimental runs (≈ 1.5 years of computation time). We find that simple link prediction heuristics perform better than GNNs and DGNNs, different sliding window sizes greatly affect performance, and of all examined graph neural networks, that DGNNs consistently outperform static GNNs. This work is a continuation of our previous work, a foundation of dynamic networks and theoretical review of DGNNs. In combination with our survey, we provide both a theoretical and empirical comparison of DGNNs.

Skjöldebrand, C, Tipper, JL, Hatto, P, Bryant, M, Hall, RM & Persson, C 2022, 'Current status and future potential of wear-resistant coatings and articulating surfaces for hip and knee implants', Materials Today Bio, vol. 15, pp. 100270-100270.
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Hip and knee joint replacements are common and largely successful procedures that utilise implants to restore mobility and relieve pain for patients suffering from e.g. osteoarthritis. However, metallic ions and particles released from both the bearing surfaces and non-articulating interfaces, as in modular components, can cause hypersensitivity and local tissue necrosis, while particles originating from a polymer component have been associated with aseptic loosening and osteolysis. Implant coatings have the potential to improve properties compared to both bulk metal and ceramic alternatives. Ceramic coatings have the potential to increase scratch resistance, enhance wettability and reduce wear of the articulating surfaces compared to the metallic substrate, whilst maintaining overall toughness of the implant ensuring a lower risk of catastrophic failure of the device compared to use of a bulk ceramic. Coatings can also act as barriers to inhibit ion release from the underlying material caused by corrosion. This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of wear-resistant coatings for joint replacements - both those that are in current clinical use as well as those under investigation for future use. While the majority of coatings belong predominantly in the latter group, a few coated implants have been successfully marketed and are available for clinical use in specific applications. Commercially available coatings for implants include titanium nitride (TiN), titanium niobium nitride (TiNbN), oxidized zirconium (OxZr) and zirconium nitride (ZrN) based coatings, whereas current research is focused not only on these, but also on diamond-like-carbon (DLC), silicon nitride (SiN), chromium nitride (CrN) and tantalum-based coatings (TaN and TaO). The coating materials referred to above that are still at the research stage have been shown to be non-cytotoxic and to reduce wear in a laboratory setting. However, the adhesion of implant coatings remains a m...

Smith, CM & Hutvagner, G 2022, 'A comparative analysis of single cell small RNA sequencing data reveals heterogeneous isomiR expression and regulation', Scientific Reports, vol. 12, no. 1.
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AbstractMicroRNAs (miRNAs) are non-coding small RNAs which play a critical role in the regulation of gene expression in cells. It is known that miRNAs are often expressed as multiple isoforms, called isomiRs, which may have alternative regulatory functions. Despite the recent development of several single cell small RNA sequencing protocols, these methods have not been leveraged to investigate isomiR expression and regulation to better understand their role on a single cell level. Here we integrate sequencing data from three independent studies and find substantial differences in isomiR composition that suggest that cell autonomous mechanisms may drive isomiR processing. We also find evidence of altered regulatory functions of different classes of isomiRs, when compared to their respective wild-type miRNA, which supports a biological role for many of the isomiRs that are expressed.

Steele, JR, Italiano, CJ, Phillips, CR, Violi, JP, Pu, L, Rodgers, KJ & Padula, MP 2022, 'Correction: Steele et al. Misincorporation Proteomics Technologies: A Review. Proteomes 2021, 9, 2', Proteomes, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 22-22.
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In the original publication, there was a mistake in Table 2 as published [...]

Stratton‐Powell, AA, Williams, S, Tipper, JL, Redmond, AC & Brockett, CL 2022, 'Mixed material wear particle isolation from periprosthetic tissue surrounding total joint replacements', Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part B: Applied Biomaterials, vol. 110, no. 10, pp. 2276-2289.
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AbstractSubmicron‐sized wear particles are generally accepted as a potential cause of aseptic loosening when produced in sufficient volumes. With the accelerating use of increasingly wear‐resistant biomaterials, identifying such particles and evaluating their biological response is becoming more challenging. Highly sensitive wear particle isolation methods have been developed but these methods cannot isolate the complete spectrum of particle types present in individual tissue samples. Two established techniques were modified to create one novel method to isolate both high‐ and low‐density materials from periprosthetic tissue samples. Ten total hip replacement and eight total knee replacement tissue samples were processed. All particle types were characterized using high resolution scanning electron microscopy. UHMWPE and a range of high‐density materials were isolated from all tissue samples, including: polymethylmethacrylate, zirconium dioxide, titanium alloy, cobalt chromium alloy and stainless steel. This feasibility study demonstrates the coexistence of mixed particle types in periprosthetic tissues and provides researchers with high‐resolution images of clinically relevant wear particles that could be used as a reference for future in vitro biological response studies.

Sukjamnong, S, Chen, H, Saad, S & Santiyanont, R 2022, 'Fimbristylis ovata and Artemisia vulgaris extracts inhibited AGE-mediated RAGE expression, ROS generation, and inflammation in THP-1 cells', Toxicological Research, vol. 38, no. 3, pp. 331-343.
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Tan, CL, Chan, Y, Candasamy, M, Chellian, J, Madheswaran, T, Sakthivel, LP, Patel, VK, Chakraborty, A, MacLoughlin, R, Kumar, D, Verma, N, Malyla, V, Gupta, PK, Jha, NK, Thangavelu, L, Devkota, HP, Bhatt, S, Prasher, P, Gupta, G, Gulati, M, Singh, SK, Paudel, KR, Hansbro, PM, Oliver, BG, Dua, K & Chellappan, DK 2022, 'Unravelling the molecular mechanisms underlying chronic respiratory diseases for the development of novel therapeutics via in vitro experimental models', European Journal of Pharmacology, vol. 919, pp. 174821-174821.
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Tang, T & Li, J 2022, 'Comparative studies on the high-performance compression of SARS-CoV-2 genome collections', Briefings in Functional Genomics, vol. 21, no. 2, pp. 103-112.
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Abstract The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is fast mutating worldwide. The mutated strains have been timely sequenced by worldwide labs, accumulating a huge amount of viral genome sequences open to public for biomedicine research such as mRNA vaccine design and drug recommendation. It is inefficient to transmit the millions of genome sequences without compression. In this study, we benchmark the performance of reference-free and reference-based compression algorithms on SARS-CoV-2 genome collections extracted from NCBI. Experimental results show that reference-based two-level compression is the most suitable approach to the compression, achieving the best compression ratio 1019.33-fold for compressing 132 372 genomes and 949.73-fold for compressing 416 238 genomes. This enormous file size reduction and efficient decompression have enabled a 5-min download and decompression of $10^5$ SARS-CoV-2 genomes. As compression on datasets containing such big numbers of genomes has been explored seldom before, our comparative analysis of the state-of-the-art compression algorithms provides practical guidance for the selection of compression tools and their parameters such as reference genomes to compress viral genome databases with similar characteristics. We also suggested a genome clustering approach using multiple references for a better compression. It is anticipated that the increased availability of SARS-CoV-2 genome datasets will make biomedicine research more productive.

Tang, T, Hutvagner, G, Wang, W & Li, J 2022, 'Simultaneous compression of multiple error-corrected short-read sets for faster data transmission and betterde novoassemblies', Briefings in Functional Genomics, vol. 21, no. 5, pp. 387-398.
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AbstractNext-Generation Sequencing has produced incredible amounts of short-reads sequence data for de novo genome assembly over the last decades. For efficient transmission of these huge datasets, high-performance compression algorithms have been intensively studied. As both the de novo assembly and error correction methods utilize the overlaps between reads data, a concern is that the will the sequencing errors bring up negative effects on genome assemblies also affect the compression of the NGS data. This work addresses two problems: how current error correction algorithms can enable the compression algorithms to make the sequence data much more compact, and whether the sequence-modified reads by the error-correction algorithms will lead to quality improvement for de novo contig assembly. As multiple sets of short reads are often produced by a single biomedical project in practice, we propose a graph-based method to reorder the files in the collection of multiple sets and then compress them simultaneously for a further compression improvement after error correction. We use examples to illustrate that accurate error correction algorithms can significantly reduce the number of mismatched nucleotides in the reference-free compression, hence can greatly improve the compression performance. Extensive test on practical collections of multiple short-read sets does confirm that the compression performance on the error-corrected data (with unchanged size) significantly outperforms that on the original data, and that the file reordering idea contributes furthermore. The error correction on the original reads has also resulted in quality improvements of the genome assemblies, sometimes remarkably. However, it is still an open question that how to combine appropriate error correction methods with an assembly algorithm so that the assembly performance can be always significantly improved.

Tavakoli, J & Tipper, JL 2022, 'Detailed mechanical characterization of the transition zone: New insight into the integration between the annulus and nucleus of the intervertebral disc', Acta Biomaterialia, vol. 143, pp. 87-99.
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The Nucleus Pulposus (NP) and Annulus Fibrous (AF) are two primary regions of the intervertebral disc (IVD). The interface between the AF and NP, where the gradual transition in structure and type of fibers are observed, is known as the Transition Zone (TZ). Recent structural studies have shown that the TZ contains organized fibers that appear to connect the NP to the AF. However, the mechanical characteristics of the TZ are yet to be explored. The current study aimed to investigate the mechanical properties of the TZ at the anterolateral (AL) and posterolateral (PL) regions in both radial and circumferential directions of loading using ovine IVDs (N = 28). Young's and toe moduli, maximum stress, failure strain, strain at maximum stress, and toughness were calculated mechanical parameters. The findings from this study revealed that the mechanical properties of the TZ, including young's modulus (p = 0.001), failure strain (p < 0.001), strain at maximum stress (p = 0.002), toughness (p = 0.027), and toe modulus (p = 0.005), were significantly lower for the PL compared to the AL region. Maximum stress was not significantly different between the PL and AL regions (p = 0.164). We found that maximum stress (p = 0.002), failure strain (p < 0.001), and toughness (p = 0.001) were significantly different in different loading directions. No significant differences for modulus (young's; p = 0.169 and toe; p = 0.352) and strain at maximum stress (p = 0.727) were found between the radial and circumferential loading directions. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: To date there has not been a study that has investigated the mechanical characterization of the annulus (AF)-nucleus (NP) interface (transition zone; TZ) in the intervertebral disc (IVD), nor is it known whether the posterolateral (PL) and anterolateral (AL) regions of the TZ exhibit different mechanical properties. Accordingly, the TZ mechanical properties have been rarely used in the development of computational IVD...

Tew, M, De Abreu Lourenco, R, Gordon, JR, Thursky, KA, Slavin, MA, Babl, FA, Orme, L, Bryant, PA, Teh, BW, Dalziel, K & Haeusler, GM 2022, 'Cost‐effectiveness of home‐based care of febrile neutropenia in children with cancer', Pediatric Blood & Cancer, vol. 69, no. 7.
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AbstractIntroductionHome‐based treatment of febrile neutropenia (FN) in children with cancer with oral or intravenous antibiotics is safe and effective. There are limited data on the economic impact of this model of care. We evaluated the cost‐effectiveness of implementing an FN programme, incorporating home‐based intravenous antibiotics for carefully selected patients, in a tertiary paediatric hospital.MethodsA decision analytic model was constructed to compare costs and outcomes of the home‐based FN programme, with usual in‐hospital treatment with intravenous antibiotics. The programme included a clinical decision rule to stratify patients by risk for severe infection and home‐based eligibility criteria using disease, chemotherapy and patient‐level factors. Health outcomes (quality of life) and probabilities of FN risk classification and home‐based eligibility were based on prospectively collected data between 2017 and 2019. Patient‐level costs were extracted from hospital administrative records. Cost‐effectiveness was expressed as the incremental cost per quality‐adjusted life year (QALY).FindingsThe mean health care cost of home‐based FN treatment in low‐risk patients was Australian dollars (A$) 7765 per patient compared to A$20,396 for in‐hospital treatment (mean difference A$12,632 [95% CI: 12,496–12,767]). Overall, the home‐based FN programme was the dominant strategy, being more effective (0.0011 QALY [95% CI: 0.0011–0.0012]) and less costly. Results of the model were most sensitive to proportion of children eligible for home‐based care programme.ConclusionCompared to in‐hospital FN care, the home‐based FN programme is cost‐effective, with savings arising from cheaper cost of caring for childr...

Thompson, CJ, Smith, A, Coutts, AJ, Skorski, S, Datson, N, Smith, MR & Meyer, T 2022, 'Understanding the Presence of Mental Fatigue in Elite Female Football', Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, vol. 93, no. 3, pp. 504-515.
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Purpose: Previous research investigating the impact of induced mental fatigue in football (soccer) has demonstrated associated performance decrements in physical, technical, tactical and decision-making performance. A common limitation amongst this research is the protocols used to induce mental fatigue which provides low ecological validity, and the inclusion of recreational or sub-elite players. Therefore, understanding the presence of mental fatigue in elite football can provide insight into protocols with greater ecological validity. Methods: The current study used focus groups with 10 elite female football players, focusing on five topics (travel, fixture congestion, receiving tactical information, pre-match routine and pressure to win) related to the perceived causes of mental fatigue in elite football (directed by anecdotal quotes in elite football and research-based theories). Results: Several themes emerged from the data; travel fatigue, inability to switch off from football, fatigue experienced following team meetings, use of pre-match music and internal pressure to succeed. Conclusion: These findings present practical recommendations to reduce mental fatigue in elite football settings, such as considering the timing, content and duration of team meetings, providing players with free time/rest where possible, and considering the modality of coaching instructions during matches.

Thomson, S, Chan, YL, Yi, C, Wang, B, Machaalani, R, Oliver, BG, Gorrie, CA & Chen, H 2022, 'Impact of High Fat Consumption on Neurological Functions after Traumatic Brain Injury in Rats', Journal of Neurotrauma, vol. 39, no. 21-22, pp. 1547-1560.
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Torgbenu, E, Luckett, T, Buhagiar, M, Requena, CM & Phillips, JL 2022, 'Improving care for cancer-related and other forms of lymphoedema in low- and middle-income countries: a qualitative study', BMC Health Services Research, vol. 22, no. 1.
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AbstractBackgroundLymphoedema is a common, distressing and debilitating condition that can be related to cancer and its treatment or other conditions. Little is known about current practices in the diagnosis, assessment and management of lymphoedema in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC).AimTo describe current practices in diagnosing, assessing and managing cancer-related and other forms of lymphoedema in LMIC, and related barriers and facilitators.MethodsAn exploratory-descriptive qualitative study. Participants were lymphoedema experts or health care professionals identified via published lymphoedema papers and professional organizations respectively. Sampling was purposive to ensure a diversity of perspectives and experience. Data collection was via semi-structured telephone/video interviews, and questions canvassed participants’ experiences and perceptions of lymphoedema care in LMIC. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Analysis proceeded via inductive coding before mapping codes to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Innovative Care for Chronic Conditions Framework.ResultsNineteen participants were interviewed, most of whom were physiotherapists (n = 11). Ten participants worked permanently in a LMIC, while the remainder were based in a high-income country (HIC) and had been involved in initiatives to improve lymphoedema care across multiple LMIC. Participants indicated that management of cancer versus non-cancer related lymphoedema was similar, but that pathways to care were more straight-forward for those receiving cancer care, leading to earlier diagnosis. Key facilitators to optimizing lymphoedema care in LMIC included: 1) joining forces t...

Tran, T, Bliuc, D, Ho-Le, T, Abrahamsen, B, van den Bergh, JP, Chen, W, Eisman, JA, Geusens, P, Hansen, L, Vestergaard, P, Nguyen, TV, Blank, RD & Center, JR 2022, 'Association of Multimorbidity and Excess Mortality After Fractures Among Danish Adults', JAMA Network Open, vol. 5, no. 10, pp. e2235856-e2235856.
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ImportanceLimited knowledge about interactions among health disorders impedes optimal patient care. Because comorbidities are common among patients 50 years and older with fractures, these fractures provide a useful setting for studying interactions among disorders.ObjectiveTo define multimorbidity clusters at the time of fracture and quantify the interaction between multimorbidity and fracture in association with postfracture excess mortality.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsThis nationwide cohort study included 307 870 adults in Denmark born on or before January 1, 1951, who had an incident low-trauma fracture between January 1, 2001, and December 31, 2014, and were followed up through December 31, 2016. Data were analyzed from February 1 to March 31, 2022.Main Outcomes and MeasuresFracture and 32 predefined chronic diseases recorded within 5 years before the index fracture were identified from the Danish National Hospital Discharge Register. Death was ascertained from the Danish Register on Causes of Death. Latent class analysis was conducted to identify multimorbidity clusters. Relative survival analysis was used to quantify excess mortality associated with the combination of multimorbidity and fractures at specific sites.ResultsAmong the 307 870 participants identified with incident fractures, 95 372 were men (31.0%; mean [SD] age at fracture, 72.3 [11.2] years) and 212 498 were women (69.0%; mean [SD] age at fracture, 74.9 [11.2] years). During a median of 6.5 (IQR, 3.0-11.0) years of follow-up, 41 017 men (43.0%) and 81 727 women (38.5%) died. Almost half of ...

Trenoska Basile, V, Newton-John, T & Wootton, BM 2022, 'Internet videoconferencing delivered cognitive behavior therapy for generalized anxiety disorder: protocol for a randomized controlled trial', Trials, vol. 23, no. 1, p. 592.
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Abstract Background Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is a chronic mental health condition that results in a significant individual and societal burden. While cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is well established as an efficacious treatment for GAD, many patients experience logistical barriers when accessing face-to-face CBT. Remotely delivered treatments remove many of these barriers. Despite emerging evidence demonstrating the efficacy of remotely delivered CBT for GAD, studies examining the efficacy of remote methods for GAD that are analogous to standard face-to-face treatment, in particular synchronous treatments such as CBT delivered via online videoconferencing (VCBT), are needed. Methods The authors propose a two-group randomized controlled trial comparing the efficacy of VCBT for GAD against a waitlist control group. The recruitment target will be 78 adults with primary GAD of at least moderate severity. The manualized high-intensity VCBT intervention will be delivered weekly over a 10-week period. After treatment completion, waitlist participants will receive the same VCBT delivered in a brief format (i.e., weekly over a 5-week period). Treatment for both groups will be delivered in real time via an online teleconferencing platform. Outcome measures will be administered at baseline, mid-treatment, post-treatment, and 3-month follow-up. Discussion This trial will report findings on the efficacy of a remote synchronous high-intensity VCBT intervention for GAD. The results have the potential to contribute towards advancing our knowledge on the evidence base for GAD, as well as increase the dissemination of VCBT for GAD. ...

Trenoska Basile, V, Newton‐John, T & Wootton, BM 2022, 'Remote cognitive‐behavioral therapy for generalized anxiety disorder: A preliminary meta‐analysis', Journal of Clinical Psychology, vol. 78, no. 12, pp. 2381-2395.
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AbstractBackgroundGeneralized anxiety disorder (GAD) is a chronic mental health condition that results in significant individual, societal, and economic burden. While cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is well established as an efficacious treatment for GAD, individuals have identified several logistical barriers to accessing face‐to‐face CBT. Remotely delivered treatments address many of these treatment barriers.MethodsThe aim of the current study was to synthesize the current literature on the efficacy of remote CBT for GAD using a meta‐analytic approach. Relevant articles were identified through an electronic database search and 10 studies (with 11 remote conditions and 1071 participants) were included in the meta‐analysis.ResultsWithin‐group findings indicate that remote CBT for GAD results in large effect sizes from pretreatment to posttreatment (g = 1.30; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.03−1.58). Both low intensity and high intensity remote CBT interventions were found to result in large effect sizes (g = 1.36; 95% CI: 1.11−1.61 and g = 0.83; 95% CI: 0.20−1.47, respectively), with no significant differences between the treatment formats (Q1 = 2.28, p = 0.13). Between‐group effect sizes were medium in size at posttreatment (g = 0.76; 95% CI: 0.47−1.06).ConclusionsThese findings have potential implications for the delivery of evidence‐based treatment for GAD and the inclusion of remote methods in stepped care treatment approaches.

Turan, Y, Kalkandelen, C, Palaci, Y, Sahin, A, Gokce, H, Gunduz, O & Ben-Nissan, B 2022, 'Synthesis and cytotoxicity analysis of porous β-TCP/starch bioceramics', Journal of the Australian Ceramic Society, vol. 58, no. 2, pp. 487-494.
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Tyma, B, Dhillon, R, Sivabalan, P & Wieder, B 2022, 'Understanding Accountability in Blockchain Systems', Accounting Auditing and Accountability Journal, vol. 35, no. 7, pp. 1625-1655.
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PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine how accountability is constructed for blockchain systems. With the aim of increasing knowledge on accountability across three different types of blockchains (public, private and consortium), the researchers ask: how do blockchain systems construct accountability?Design/methodology/approachThis study draws on theorising in the accountability literature to study how blockchains relate to our construction and understanding of accountability. A qualitative field study of the Australian blockchain technology landscape is conducted, with insights garnered from 18 blockchain experts.FindingsFindings reveal that different types of blockchains employ different forms and mechanisms of accountability and in novel ways previously less acknowledged in the literature. Importantly, this study finds that accountability does not require a principal–agent relation and can still manifest in less pure applications of blockchain technology across a wide range of stakeholders, contrary to that espoused in earlier exhortations of blockchain use in interdisciplinary literature. This study also finds that similar subtypes of accountability operate very differently across public, private and consortium blockchains and there exists an inverse relation between trust and consensus building through transparency as blockchains progress from public to private types. Overall, this study offers novel explanations for the relevance of greater accountability in blockchains, especially when the assumptions of public blockchains are softened and applied as private and consortium blockchains.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the accountability literature by addressing how different blockchain systems reshape the understanding of traditional accounting and accountability practices. This study questions the very need for a principal–agent relation to facilitate accountability and offers an additional perspective to how trust and...

Uddin, MB, Chow, CM, Ling, SH & Su, SW 2022, 'A generalized algorithm for the automatic diagnosis of sleep apnea from per-sample encoding of airflow and oximetry', Physiological Measurement, vol. 43, no. 6, pp. 065004-065004.
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Abstract Objective. Sleep apnea is a common sleep breathing disorder that can significantly decrease sleep quality and have major health consequences. It is diagnosed based on the apnea hypopnea index (AHI). This study explored a novel, generalized algorithm for the automatic diagnosis of sleep apnea employing airflow (AF) and oximetry (SpO2) signals. Approach. Of the 988 polysomnography records, 45 were randomly selected for developing the automatic algorithm and the remainder 943 for validating purposes. The algorithm detects apnea events by a per-sample encoding process applied to the peak excursion of AF signal. Hypopnea events were detected from the per-sample encoding of AF and SpO2 with an adjustment to time lag in SpO2. Total recording time was automatically processed and optimized for computation of total sleep time (TST). Total number of detected events and computed TST were used to estimate AHI. The estimated AHI was validated against the scored data from the Sleep Heart Health Study. Main results. Intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.94 was obtained between estimated and scored AHIs. The diagnostic accuracies were 93.5%, 92.4%, and 96.6% for AHI cut-off values of ≥5, ≥15, and ≥30 respectively. The overall accuracy for the combined severity categories (normal, mild, moderate, and severe) and kappa were 83.4% and 0.77 respectively. Significance. This new automatic technique was found to be superior to the other existing methods and can be applied to any portable sleep devices especially for home sleep apnea tests.

van Zandwijk, N, Rasko, JEJ, George, AM, Frank, AL & Reid, G 2022, 'The silent malignant mesothelioma epidemic: a call to action', The Lancet Oncology, vol. 23, no. 10, pp. 1245-1248.
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Vella, A, Clarke, AC, Kempton, T, Ryan, S, Holden, J & Coutts, AJ 2022, 'Technical involvements and pressure applied influence movement demands in elite Australian Football Match-play', Science and Medicine in Football, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 228-233.
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Venning, B, Saya, S, De Abreu Lourenco, R, Street, DJ & Emery, JD 2022, 'Preferences for a polygenic test to estimate cancer risk in a general Australian population', Genetics in Medicine, vol. 24, no. 10, pp. 2144-2154.
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Verma, N, Arora, V, Awasthi, R, Chan, Y, Jha, NK, Thapa, K, Jawaid, T, Kamal, M, Gupta, G, Liu, G, Paudel, KR, Hansbro, PM, George Oliver, BG, Singh, SK, Chellappan, DK, Dureja, H & Dua, K 2022, 'Recent developments, challenges and future prospects in advanced drug delivery systems in the management of tuberculosis', Journal of Drug Delivery Science and Technology, vol. 75, pp. 103690-103690.
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Vindin, HJ, Oliver, BGG & Weiss, AS 2022, 'Elastin in healthy and diseased lung', Current Opinion in Biotechnology, vol. 74, pp. 15-20.
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Elastic fibers are an essential part of the pulmonary extracellular matrix (ECM). Intact elastin is required for normal function and its damage contributes profoundly to the etiology and pathology of lung disease. This highlights the need for novel lung-specific imaging methodology that enables high-resolution 3D visualization of the ECM. We consider elastin's involvement in chronic respiratory disease and examine recent methods for imaging and modeling of the lung in the context of advances in lung tissue engineering for research and clinical application.

Virdun, C, Luckett, T, Lorenz, K, Davidson, P & Phillips, J 2022, 'Preferences of patients with palliative care needs and their families for engagement with service improvement work within the hospital setting: A qualitative study', Palliative Medicine, vol. 36, no. 7, pp. 1129-1139.
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Background: There is growing recognition of the importance of involving patients and families with lived experiences of illness in healthcare service quality improvement, research and implementation initiatives. Ensuring input from people with palliative care needs is important, but how to enable this is not well understood. Aim: To seek the perspectives of Australian patients with palliative care needs, and their family members, to elicit their views on how to best contribute to inpatient palliative care quality improvement initiatives. Design: An exploratory qualitative study, using semi-structured interviews. Setting/participants: Eligible participants were adult patients with palliative care needs receiving care within a hospital setting, and their family members. Recruitment occurred through: five hospitals in New South Wales, Australia; and snowballing. Results: Fifty participants took part (21 patients and 29 family members). Results confirmed four themes: (1) Mechanisms for providing feedback about care quality need to be supportive and individualised; (2) The clinician-patient/family power imbalance makes real time feedback challenging to provide; (3) Willingness to contribute varies according to diagnosis, timing and role and (4) Face to face feedback is preferred for health service improvement work. Conclusions: Enabling meaningful consumer input to quality improvement requires careful consideration due to the unique requirements of the palliative care population. Embedding tailored outcome and experience measures to inform real-time care provision coupled with focussed opportunities for inp...

Vranken, L, Wyers, CE, Van der Velde, RY, Janzing, HMJ, Kaarsemakers, S, Driessen, J, Eisman, J, Center, JR, Nguyen, TV, Tran, T, Bliuc, D, Geusens, P & van den Bergh, JP 2022, 'Association between incident falls and subsequent fractures in patients attending the fracture liaison service after an index fracture: a 3-year prospective observational cohort study', BMJ Open, vol. 12, no. 7, pp. e058983-e058983.
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ObjectivesTo evaluate the risk of subsequent fractures in patients who attended the Fracture Liaison Service (FLS), with and without incident falls after the index fracture.DesignA 3-year prospective observational cohort study.SettingAn outpatient FLS in the Netherlands.ParticipantsPatients aged 50+ years with a recent clinical fracture.Outcome measuresIncident falls and subsequent fractures.ResultsThe study included 488 patients (71.9% women, mean age: 64.6±8.6 years). During the 3-year follow-up, 959 falls had been ascertained in 296 patients (60.7%) (ie, fallers), and 60 subsequent fractures were ascertained in 53 patients (10.9%). Of the fractures, 47 (78.3%) were fall related, of which 25 (53.2%) were sustained at the first fall incident at a median of 34 weeks. An incident fall was associated with an approximately 9-fold (HR: 8.6, 95% CI 3.1 to 23.8) increase in the risk of subsequent fractures.ConclusionThese data suggest that subsequent fractures among patients on treatment prescribed in an FLS setting are common, and that an incident fall is a strong predictor of subsequent fracture risk. Immediate attention for fall risk could be beneficial in an FLS model of care.Trial registration numberNL45707.072.13.

Wang, L, Huang, W, Zhang, M, Pan, S, Chang, X & Su, SW 2022, 'Pruning graph neural networks by evaluating edge properties', Knowledge-Based Systems, vol. 256, pp. 109847-109847.
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The emergence of larger and deeper graph neural networks (GNNs) makes their training and inference increasingly expensive. Existing GNN pruning methods simultaneously prune the graph adjacency matrix and the model weights on a pretrained neural network by directly leveraging the lottery-ticket hypothesis, but the benefits of such methods are mainly via weight pruning, and methods based on saliency metrics struggle to outperform random pruning when pruning only the graph adjacency matrix. This motivates us to use different scoring standards for graph edges and network weights during GNN pruning. Thus, rather than measuring the importance of graph edges based on saliency metrics, we formulate the performance of GNNs mathematically with respect to the properties of their edges, elucidating how the performance drop can be avoided by pruning negative edges and nonbridges. This leads to our simple but effective two-step method for GNN pruning, leveraging the saliency metrics for the network pruning while sparsifying the graph with preservation of the loss performance. Experimental results show the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed method on both small-scale graph datasets (Cora, Citeseer, and PubMed) and a large-scale dataset (Ogbn-ArXiv), where our method saves up to 98% of floating-point operations per second (FLOPs) on the small graphs and 94% of FLOPs on the large one, with no significant drop in accuracy.

Wang, Q, Huang, X, Su, Y, Yin, G, Wang, S, Yu, B, Li, H, Qi, J, Chen, H, Zeng, W, Zhang, K, Verkhratsky, A, Niu, J & Yi, C 2022, 'Activation of Wnt/β-catenin pathway mitigates blood–brain barrier dysfunction in Alzheimer’s disease', Brain, vol. 145, no. 12, pp. 4474-4488.
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Abstract Alzheimer’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder that causes age-dependent neurological and cognitive declines. The treatments for Alzheimer’s disease pose a significant challenge, because the mechanisms of disease are not being fully understood. Malfunction of the blood–brain barrier is increasingly recognized as a major contributor to the pathophysiology of Alzheimer’s disease, especially at the early stages of the disease. However, the underlying mechanisms remain poorly characterized, while few molecules can directly target and improve blood–brain barrier function in the context of Alzheimer’s disease. Here, we showed dysfunctional blood–brain barrier in patients with Alzheimer’s disease reflected by perivascular accumulation of blood-derived fibrinogen in the hippocampus and cortex, accompanied by decreased tight junction proteins Claudin-5 and glucose transporter Glut-1 in the brain endothelial cells. In the APPswe/PS1dE9 (APP/PS1) mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease, blood–brain barrier dysfunction started at 4 months of age and became severe at 9 months of age. In the cerebral microvessels of APP/PS1 mice and amyloid-β-treated brain endothelial cells, we found suppressed Wnt/β-catenin signalling triggered by an increase of GSK3β activation, but not an inhibition of the AKT pathway or switching to the Wnt/planar cell polarity pathway. Furthermore, using our newly developed optogenetic tool for controlled regulation of LRP6 (upstream regulator of the Wnt signalling) to activate Wnt/β-catenin pathway, blood–brain barrier malfunction was restored by preventing amyloid-β-induced brain endothelial cells impairments and promoting the barrier repair. In conclusion, targeting LRP6 in the Wnt/β-catenin pathway in the brain endothelium can alleviate blood–brain barrier malfunction induced by amyloid-β, which may be a potential treatment strategy for Alzheimer’s disease.

Wang, X, Yu, G, Liu, RP, Zhang, J, Wu, Q, Su, SW, He, Y, Zhang, Z, Yu, L, Liu, T, Zhang, W, Loneragan, P, Dutkiewicz, E, Poole, E & Paton, N 2022, 'Blockchain-Enabled Fish Provenance and Quality Tracking System', IEEE Internet of Things Journal, vol. 9, no. 11, pp. 8130-8142.
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Wen, J, Gabrys, B & Musial, K 2022, 'Toward Digital Twin Oriented Modeling of Complex Networked Systems and Their Dynamics: A Comprehensive Survey', IEEE Access, vol. 10, no. 99, pp. 66886-66923.
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This paper aims to provide a comprehensive critical overview on how entities and their interactions in Complex Networked Systems (CNS) are modelled across disciplines as they approach their ultimate goal of creating a Digital Twin (DT) that perfectly matches the reality. We propose four complexity dimensions for the network representation and five generations of models for the dynamics modelling to describe the increasing complexity level of the CNS that will be developed towards achieving DT (e.g. CNS dynamics modelled offline in the 1st generation v.s. CNS dynamics modelled simultaneously with a two-way real time feedback between reality and the CNS in the 5th generation). Based on that, we propose a new framework to conceptually compare diverse existing modelling paradigms from different perspectives and create unified assessment criteria to evaluate their respective capabilities of reaching such an ultimate goal. Using the proposed criteria, we also appraise how far the reviewed current state-of-the-art approaches are from the idealised DTs. Finally, we identify and propose potential directions and ways of building a DT-orientated CNS based on the convergence and integration of CNS and DT utilising a variety of cross-disciplinary techniques.

White, S, Phillips, J, Turbitt, E & Jacobs, C 2022, 'Views and experiences of palliative care clinicians in addressing genetics with individuals and families: a qualitative study', Supportive Care in Cancer, vol. 30, no. 2, pp. 1615-1624.
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Purpose

A proportion of people with palliative care needs unknowingly have a genetic predisposition to their disease, placing relatives at increased risk. As end-of-life nears, the opportunity to address genetics for the benefit of their family narrows. Clinicians face numerous barriers addressing genetic issues, but there is limited evidence from the palliative care clinician perspective. Our aims are to (1) explore the views and experiences of palliative care clinicians in addressing genetics with patients and their families and (2) generate suggested strategies that support integration of genetics into palliative care.

Methods

An interpretive descriptive qualitative study using semi-structured interviews with palliative care doctors and nurses (N = 14).

Results

Three themes were identified: (1) Harms and benefits of raising genetics: a delicate balancing act, (2) Navigating genetic responsibility within the scope of palliative care and (3) Overcoming practice barriers: a multipronged approach. Participants described balancing the benefits of addressing genetics in palliative care against potential harms. Responsibility to address genetic issues depends on perceptions of relevance and the scope of palliative care. Suggestions to overcome practice barriers included building genetic-palliative care relationships and multi-layered genetics education, developing clinical resources and increasing organisational support.

Conclusions

Integrating aspects of genetics is feasible, but must be balanced against potential harms and benefits. Palliative care clinicians were uncertain about their responsibility to navigate these complex issues to address genetics. There are opportunities to overcome barriers and tailor support to ensure people nearing end-of-life have a chance to address genetic issues for the benefit of their families.

Wilder, BK, Vigdorovich, V, Carbonetti, S, Minkah, N, Hertoghs, N, Raappana, A, Cardamone, H, Oliver, BG, Trakhimets, O, Kumar, S, Dambrauskas, N, Arredondo, SA, Camargo, N, Seilie, AM, Murphy, SC, Kappe, SHI & Sather, DN 2022, 'Anti-TRAP/SSP2 monoclonal antibodies can inhibit sporozoite infection and may enhance protection of anti-CSP monoclonal antibodies', npj Vaccines, vol. 7, no. 1.
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AbstractVaccine-induced sterilizing protection from infection by Plasmodium parasites, the pathogens that cause malaria, will be essential in the fight against malaria as it would prevent both malaria-related disease and transmission. Stopping the relatively small number of parasites injected by the mosquito before they can migrate from the skin to the liver is an attractive means to this goal. Antibody-eliciting vaccines have been used to pursue this objective by targeting the major parasite surface protein present during this stage, the circumsporozoite protein (CSP). While CSP-based vaccines have recently had encouraging success in disease reduction, this was only achieved with extremely high antibody titers and appeared less effective for a complete block of infection (i.e., sterile protection). While such disease reduction is important, these and other results indicate that strategies focusing on CSP alone may not achieve the high levels of sterile protection needed for malaria eradication. Here, we show that monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) recognizing another sporozoite protein, TRAP/SSP2, exhibit a range of inhibitory activity and that these mAbs may augment CSP-based protection despite conferring no sterile protection on their own. Therefore, pursuing a multivalent subunit vaccine immunization is a promising strategy for improving infection-blocking malaria vaccines.

Xie, H, Zheng, J, Sun, Z, Wang, H & Chai, R 2022, 'Finite-time tracking control for nonholonomic wheeled mobile robot using adaptive fast nonsingular terminal sliding mode', Nonlinear Dynamics, vol. 110, no. 2, pp. 1437-1453.
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AbstractSystem uncertainties and external disturbances are the major causes of the trajectory tracking performance degradation in nonholonomic wheeled mobile robots (NWMRs). In this article, an adaptive fast nonsingular terminal sliding mode dynamic control (AFNTSMDC) method is proposed to provide enhanced robust and finite-time tracking performance for the NWMR. The proposed AFNTSMDC is a systematic design method based upon both the kinematic and dynamic model of the NWMR. The proposed controller has a simple form without singularity issue in the control input, which makes it practically implementable. The finite-time stability of the proposed tracking-error function is also proved using the Lyapunov function. Finally, circular trajectory tracking experiments are conducted to validate the robustness and convergence rate of the proposed AFNTSMDC scheme in comparison with the existing methods including classic kinematic control, robust sliding mode kinematic control, and conventional sliding mode dynamic control in the presence of uncertainties and external disturbances.

Yang, T, Miro, JV, Wang, Y & Xiong, R 2022, 'Optimal Task-Space Tracking With Minimum Manipulator Reconfiguration', IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 5079-5086.
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An optimal solution to the task-space tracking problem using a non-redundant manipulator is proposed. This is a recurring occurrence in automated manufacturing settings, e.g. welding, deburring, painting, or quality control inspections. Given a pre-defined path for the end-effector to follow, there may not exist a joint-space continuous solution for task-space tracking when the non-linear manipulator kinematics and collision avoidance with obstacles in the workcell are considered. This introduces undesirable manipulator reconfigurations where the end-effector is required to deviate temporarily from the pre-defined path. The unwanted motion results in pausing task-space tracking, often incurring not only ineffective time and energy demands but potentially compromising the quality of the task at hand due to the additional discontinuities. An algorithm is proposed that provides a globally optimal perspective to the choice of suitable joint-space connected segments so that the minimum number of manipulator reconfigurations during task-space tracking is guaranteed. By carefully selecting the inverse kinematic solutions, all sequences ensuring minimum reconfigurability are proven collected by Dynamic Programming. Moreover, a faster greedy strategy is suggested to increase the computational efficiency of the tracker whilst still preserving global optimality and completeness. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is validated against traditional sampling-based solvers in simulation and illustrated on challenging real-world tracking experimentation with a Universal Robotics manipulator and a curved-surface object, depicted also in an accompanying video. An open-source implementation has also been provided for the benefit of the robotics community.

Yang, Y, Wang, L, Su, S, Watsford, M, Wood, LM & Duffield, R 2022, 'Inertial Sensor Estimation of Initial and Terminal Contact during In-Field Running', Sensors, vol. 22, no. 13, pp. 4812-4812.
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Given the popularity of running-based sports and the rapid development of Micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS), portable wireless sensors can provide in-field monitoring and analysis of running gait parameters during exercise. This paper proposed an intelligent analysis system from wireless micro–Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) data to estimate contact time (CT) and flight time (FT) during running based on gyroscope and accelerometer sensors in a single location (ankle). Furthermore, a pre-processing system that detected the running period was introduced to analyse and enhance CT and FT detection accuracy and reduce noise. Results showed pre-processing successfully detected the designated running periods to remove noise of non-running periods. Furthermore, accelerometer and gyroscope algorithms showed good consistency within 95% confidence interval, and average absolute error of 31.53 ms and 24.77 ms, respectively. In turn, the combined system obtained a consistency of 84–100% agreement within tolerance values of 50 ms and 30 ms, respectively. Interestingly, both accuracy and consistency showed a decreasing trend as speed increased (36% at high-speed fore-foot strike). Successful CT and FT detection and output validation with consistency checking algorithms make in-field measurement of running gait possible using ankle-worn IMU sensors. Accordingly, accurate IMU-based gait analysis from gyroscope and accelerometer information can inform future research on in-field gait analysis.

Yee, C, Dickson, K-A, Muntasir, MN, Ma, Y & Marsh, DJ 2022, 'Three-Dimensional Modelling of Ovarian Cancer: From Cell Lines to Organoids for Discovery and Personalized Medicine', Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, vol. 10.
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Ovarian cancer has the highest mortality of all of the gynecological malignancies. There are several distinct histotypes of this malignancy characterized by specific molecular events and clinical behavior. These histotypes have differing responses to platinum-based drugs that have been the mainstay of therapy for ovarian cancer for decades. For histotypes that initially respond to a chemotherapeutic regime of carboplatin and paclitaxel such as high-grade serous ovarian cancer, the development of chemoresistance is common and underpins incurable disease. Recent discoveries have led to the clinical use of PARP (poly ADP ribose polymerase) inhibitors for ovarian cancers defective in homologous recombination repair, as well as the anti-angiogenic bevacizumab. While predictive molecular testing involving identification of a genomic scar and/or the presence of germline or somatic BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation are in clinical use to inform the likely success of a PARP inhibitor, no similar tests are available to identify women likely to respond to bevacizumab. Functional tests to predict patient response to any drug are, in fact, essentially absent from clinical care. New drugs are needed to treat ovarian cancer. In this review, we discuss applications to address the currently unmet need of developing physiologically relevant in vitro and ex vivo models of ovarian cancer for fundamental discovery science, and personalized medicine approaches. Traditional two-dimensional (2D) in vitro cell culture of ovarian cancer lacks critical cell-to-cell interactions afforded by culture in three-dimensions. Additionally, modelling interactions with the tumor microenvironment, including the surface of organs in the peritoneal cavity that support metastatic growth of ovarian cancer, will improve the power of these models. Being able to reli...

Yerbury, H, Darcy, S, Burridge, N & Almond, B 2022, 'Are we talking the same language? Contestable discourses between university staff accommodating students with disability', Disability & Society, pp. 1-21.
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This study challenges the claim that in a university, a discourse of containment is predominant in the relationships that exist around students with disability and their requests for accommodations. It explores the work knowledges of those involved with the implementation of the processes of granting learning accommodations: the disability services staff and the academic staff liaison officers. Innovative analytical techniques were applied to interview data that identify the lexicons used by each group indicating they had different ways of conceptualising the process, with the former focussing on the development of the documentation that would stand as surrogate for the student and the latter concerned with tricky processes of negotiation with teaching staff, and problems arising from insufficient funding. These distinct work knowledges indicate the ‘messiness’ that predominates in the process of ensuring that students with disability can study ‘on the same basis’ as others.

Yerbury, H, Darcy, S, Burridge, N & Almond, B 2022, 'Bringing order or creating exclusion: systems for managing disability in a university', Journal of Documentation, vol. 78, no. 3, pp. 529-545.
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PurposeClassification schemes make things happen. The Australian Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), which derives its classification system from the World Health Organization's International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), legislates for adjustments to support the inclusion of people with disability. This study explores how students with disability enrolled in a university experience the systems intended to facilitate their studying “on the same basis” as students without disability.Design/methodology/approachThrough an online questionnaire and interviews comprising open and closed questions made available to students registered with the disability services unit of a university and follow-up interviews with a small number of students, students’ views of their own disability and effects on their participation in learning were gathered, alongside reports of their experiences of seeking support in their learning. Interview data and responses to open-ended questions were analysed using a priori and emergent coding.FindingsThe findings demonstrate that students are aware of the workings of the classification scheme and that most accept them. However, some students put themselves outside of the scheme, often as a way to exercise autonomy or to assert their “ability”, while others are excluded from it by the decisions of academic staff. Thus, the principles of fairness and equity enshrined in legislation and policy are weakened.Originality/valueThrough the voices of students with disability, it is apparent that, even though a student's classification according to th...

Yi, C, Wang, Q, Qu, Y, Niu, J, Oliver, BG & Chen, H 2022, 'In-utero exposure to air pollution and early-life neural development and cognition', Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, vol. 238, pp. 113589-113589.
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York, E, McNaughton, DA, Roseblade, A, Cranfield, CG, Gale, PA & Rawling, T 2022, 'Structure–Activity Relationship and Mechanistic Studies of Bisaryl Urea Anticancer Agents Indicate Mitochondrial Uncoupling by a Fatty Acid-Activated Mechanism', ACS Chemical Biology, vol. 17, no. 8, pp. 2065-2073.
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Targeting the cancer cell mitochondrion is a promising approach for developing novel anticancer agents. The experimental anticancer agent N,N'-bis(3,5-dichlorophenyl)urea (SR4) induces apoptotic cell death in several cancer cell lines by uncoupling mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OxPhos) using a protein-free mechanism. However, the precise mechanism by which SR4 depolarizes mitochondria is unclear because SR4 lacks an acidic functional group typically found in protein-independent uncouplers. Recently, it was shown that structurally related thioureas can facilitate proton transport across lipid bilayers by a fatty acid-activated mechanism, in which the fatty acid acts as the site of protonation/deprotonation and the thiourea acts as an anion transporter that shuttles deprotonated fatty acids across the phospholipid bilayer to enable proton leak. In this paper, we show that SR4-mediated proton transport is enhanced by the presence of free fatty acids in the lipid bilayer, indicating that SR4 uncouples mitochondria through the fatty acid-activated mechanism. This mechanistic insight was used to develop a library of substituted bisaryl ureas for structure-activity relationship studies and subsequent cell testing. It was found that lipophilic electron-withdrawing groups on bisaryl ureas enhanced electrogenic proton transport via the fatty acid-activated mechanism and had the capacity to depolarize mitochondria and reduce the viability of MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. The most active compound in the series reduced cell viability with greater potency than SR4 and was more effective at inhibiting adenosine triphosphate production.

Yu, G, Su, Y, Guo, C, Yi, C, Yu, B, Chen, H, Cui, Y, Wang, X, Wang, Y, Chen, X, Wang, S, Wang, Q, Chen, X, Hu, X, Mei, F, Verkhratsky, A, Xiao, L & Niu, J 2022, 'Pathological oligodendrocyte precursor cells revealed in human schizophrenic brains and trigger schizophrenia-like behaviors and synaptic defects in genetic animal model', Molecular Psychiatry, vol. 27, no. 12, pp. 5154-5166.
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AbstractAlthough the link of white matter to pathophysiology of schizophrenia is documented, loss of myelin is not detected in patients at the early stages of the disease, suggesting that pathological evolution of schizophrenia may occur before significant myelin loss. Disrupted-in-schizophrenia-1 (DISC1) protein is highly expressed in oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) and regulates their maturation. Recently, DISC1-Δ3, a major DISC1 variant that lacks exon 3, has been identified in schizophrenia patients, although its pathological significance remains unknown. In this study, we detected in schizophrenia patients a previously unidentified pathological phenotype of OPCs exhibiting excessive branching. We replicated this phenotype by generating a mouse strain expressing DISC1-Δ3 gene in OPCs. We further demonstrated that pathological OPCs, rather than myelin defects, drive the onset of schizophrenic phenotype by hyperactivating OPCs’ Wnt/β-catenin pathway, which consequently upregulates Wnt Inhibitory Factor 1 (Wif1), leading to the aberrant synaptic formation and neuronal activity. Suppressing Wif1 in OPCs rescues synaptic loss and behavioral disorders in DISC1-Δ3 mice. Our findings reveal the pathogenetic role of OPC-specific DISC1-Δ3 variant in the onset of schizophrenia and highlight the therapeutic potential of Wif1 as an alternative target for the treatment of this disease.

Yu, H, Guo, Y, Ye, L & Su, SW 2022, 'Statistical Analysis of In-Field Magnetometer Calibration for Two Representative Methods', IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, vol. 71, pp. 1-8.
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Yuan, X, Seneviratne, JA, Du, S, Xu, Y, Chen, Y, Jin, Q, Jin, X, Balachandran, A, Huang, S, Xu, Y, Zhai, Y, Lu, L, Tang, M, Dong, Y, Cheung, BB, Marshall, GM, Shi, W, Carter, DR & Zhang, C 2022, 'Single-cell profiling of peripheral neuroblastic tumors identifies an aggressive transitional state that bridges an adrenergic-mesenchymal trajectory', Cell Reports, vol. 41, no. 1, pp. 111455-111455.
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Peripheral neuroblastic tumors (PNTs) represent a spectrum of neural-crest-derived tumors, including neuroblastoma, ganglioneuroblastoma, and ganglioneuroma. Malignant cells in PNTs are theorized to interconvert between adrenergic/noradrenergic and mesenchymal/neural crest cell states. Here, single-cell RNA-sequencing analysis of 10 PNTs demonstrates extensive transcriptomic heterogeneity. Trajectory modeling suggests that malignant neuroblasts move between adrenergic and mesenchymal cell states via an intermediate state that we term 'transitional.' Transitional cells express programs linked to a sympathoadrenal development and aggressive tumor phenotypes such as rapid proliferation and tumor dissemination. Among primary bulk tumor patient cohorts, high expression of the transitional gene signature is predictive of poor prognosis compared with adrenergic and mesenchymal expression patterns. High transitional gene expression in neuroblastoma cell lines identifies a similar transitional H3K27-acetylation super-enhancer landscape. Collectively, our study supports the concept that PNTs have phenotypic plasticity and uncovers potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets.

Zhang, S, Zhang, X, Deng, K, Wang, C, Wood, LG, Wan, H, Liu, L, Wang, J, Zhang, L, Liu, Y, Cheng, G, Gibson, PG, Oliver, BG, Luo, F, McDonald, VM, Li, W & Wang, G 2022, 'Reduced Skeletal Muscle Mass Is Associated with an Increased Risk of Asthma Control and Exacerbation', Journal of Clinical Medicine, vol. 11, no. 23, pp. 7241-7241.
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Background: Skeletal muscle mass (SMM) has been suggested to be associated with multiple health-related outcomes. However, the potential influence of SMM on asthma has not been largely explored. Objective: To study the association between SMM and clinical features of asthma, including asthma control and exacerbation, and to construct a model based on SMM to predict the risk of asthma exacerbation (AEx). Methods: In this prospective cohort study, we consecutively recruited patients with asthma (n = 334), classified as the SMM Normal group (n = 223), SMM Low group (n = 88), and SMM High group (n = 23). We investigated the association between SMM and clinical asthma characteristics and explored the association between SMM and asthma control and AEx within a 12-month follow-up period. Based on SMM, an exacerbation prediction model was developed, and the overall performance was externally validated in an independent cohort (n = 157). Results: Compared with the SMM Normal group, SMM Low group exhibited more airway obstruction and worse asthma control, while SMM High group had a reduced eosinophil percentage in induced sputum. Furthermore, SMM Low group was at a significantly increased risk of moderate-to-severe exacerbation compared with the SMM Normal group (relative risk adjusted 2.02 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.35–2.68]; p = 0.002). In addition, a model involving SMM was developed which predicted AEx (area under the curve: 0.750, 95% CI: 0.691–0.810). Conclusions: Low SMM was an independent risk factor for future AEx. Furthermore, a model involving SMM for predicting the risk of AEx in patients with asthma indicated that assessment of SMM has potential clinical implications for asthma management.

Zhang, W, Liu, T, Brown, A, Ueland, M, Forbes, SL & Su, SW 2022, 'The Use of Electronic Nose for the Classification of Blended and Single Malt Scotch Whisky', IEEE Sensors Journal, vol. 22, no. 7, pp. 7015-7021.
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As with any profitable industry, the whisky market is subject to fraudulent activity, including adulteration. An expert can identify the differences between whiskies, but it is difficult for the majority of consumers to differentiate fraudulent beverages. Complex chemical and analytical analyses have been able to detect the differences between whiskies; however, this type of analysis is time-consuming, complex, requires trained professionals, and can only be conducted in the laboratory. A rapid and real-time assessment of whisky quality could prove beneficial to wholesalers and consumers. The odour of whiskies can be used to identify their brands, regions and styles, as thus has the potential for quality assessment and fraudulent detection. One type of technology used for real-time odour analysis is an electronic nose (e-nose). This study investigates the capability of a new e-nose prototype (called NOS.E) developed by our team to identify the differences between six whiskies with respect to their brand names, regions, and styles. This study investigates the capability of a new e-nose prototype (called NOS.E) developed by our team in identifying the differences among whiskies. Ensemble of several classifiers is adopted to improve the classification accuracy of the system. The proposed e-nose solution was verified by a field testing displayed at the CEBIT Australia 2019 trade show, by reaching an accuracy of 96.15%, 100%, and 92.31% in brand name, region, and style classification, respectively. Confirmation of the NOS.E findings was further carried out using comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC $\times $ GC-TOFMS).

Zhang, X, Ekanayake Weeramange, C, Hughes, BGM, Vasani, S, Liu, ZY, Warkiani, ME, Hartel, G, Ladwa, R, Thiery, JP, Kenny, L & Punyadeera, C 2022, 'Application of circulating tumour cells to predict response to treatment in head and neck cancer', Cellular Oncology, vol. 45, no. 4, pp. 543-555.
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Abstract Background Local recurrence and metastasis remain the major causes of death in head and neck cancer (HNC) patients. Circulating tumour cells (CTCs) are shed from primary and metastatic sites into the circulation system and have been reported to play critical roles in the metastasis and recurrence of HNC. Here, we explored the use of CTCs to predict the response to treatment and disease progression in HNC patients. Methods Blood samples were collected at diagnosis from HNC patients (n = 119). CTCs were isolated using a spiral microfluidic device and were identified using immunofluorescence staining. Correlation of baseline CTC numbers to 13-week PET-CT data and multidisciplinary team consensus data were conducted. Results CTCs were detected in 60/119 (50.4%) of treatment naïve HNC patients at diagnosis. Baseline CTC numbers were higher in stage III vs. stage I-II p16-positive oropharyngeal cancers (OPCs) and other HNCs (p = 0.0143 and 0.032, respectively). In addition, we found that baseline CTC numbers may serve as independent predictors of treatment response, even after adjusting for other conventional prognostic factors. CTCs were detected in 10 out of 11 patients exhibiting incomplete treatment responses. Conclusions We found that baseline CTC numbers are correlated with treatment response in patients with HNC. The expression level of cell-surface vimentin (CSV) on CTCs was significantly higher in patients with persistent or progressive disease, thus providing additional prognostic information...

Alanazi, F & Gay, V 1970, 'e-Health Care Development in Saudi Arabia: Challenges and Problems in e-Health Systems', Proceedings of the Information Systems Education Conference, ISECON, pp. 154-165.
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This systematic review aimed to identify the challenges and problems facing e-health in Saudi Arabia. This information is essential for subsequent identification of e-health modelling requirements and e-health opportunities in the country. A search in Google Scholar using the topic as the search term generated 19 papers for review. The results are presented as abstracted findings of each paper (Supplementary Material) and categorisation by topic, type, and research methods. Analysis of the tabulated data showed that 10 papers dealt explicitly with the topic of this review, that is, problems, challenges and barriers in e-health. The remaining 9 addressed other topics, but included discussion of barriers, problems or challenges. There were 8 conference papers and 11 journal articles. Surveys (10) were the most frequently used (10) research method. Some studies used more than one method. In relation to specific problems, barriers or challenges, 29 papers discussed technological issues, 20 were related to ICT infrastructure and 13 identified organisational and psychosocial factors. This report discusses these results and makes three recommendations.

Alanazi, F, Gay, V & Alturki, R 1970, 'A Model for a Mobile-enabled e-Health System in Saudi Arabia for the Self-management of Diabetes', Proceedings of the Information Systems Education Conference, ISECON, pp. 137-153.
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This paper prescribes the design requirements for a mobile-enabled e-health system for the self-management of diabetes by Saudi diabetes patients. The findings from a survey and a focus group were integrated to achieve this. The requirements, challenges and problems were identified and were supported by published works on the topic. The findings showed that since a variety of stakeholders are involved in such an ecosystem, it is imperative to ensure smooth coordination and an improvement in the outreach of public health campaigns. The findings thus far have highlighted the demographic groups to be targeted for designing and implementing targeted interventions to tackle diabetes in Saudi Arabia. Doing this would require interventions in the healthcare system, hospital and home-based management, and targeted patient interventions. The finer aspects of the system design need to be determined based on similar successful models and expert opinions. Some comments on the boundaries of this research are also provided.

An, Y, Han, SH & Ling, SH 1970, 'Multi-classification for EEG Motor Imagery Signals using Auto-selected Filter Bank Regularized Common Spatial Pattern.', ISMICT, IEEE International Symposium on Medical Information and Communication Technology, IEEE, Lincoln, NE, USA, pp. 1-6.
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Motor Imagery MI is a critical topic in Brain Computer Interface BCI Due to the low signal to noise ratio it is not easy to accurately classify motor imagery signals especially for multiple classification tasks Common Spatial Pattern CSP is a spatial transformation method that can effectively extract spatial features of EEG signals However the covariance matrix is inaccurate due to the small training data size Thus in this paper a regularization parameter auto selection algorithm is proposed to automatically adjust the ratio of the covariance matrix calculated by other subjects data based on the mutual information It can be used to tackle the problem of an inaccurate mixed covariance matrix caused by fixed regularization parameters To illustrate the merits of the proposed Auto selected Filter Bank Regularized Common Spatial Pattern AFBRCSP we used the ten folds cross validation accuracy and Kappa as the evaluation metrics to evaluate two data sets BCI4 2a and BCI3a data set Both data set include four mental classes By using BCI4 2a data set we found that the mean accuracy of AFBRSP is 77 31 and the Kappa is 0 6975 which is higher than Filter Bank Regularized Common Spatial Pattern FBRCSP by 5 67 and 0 0756 respectively By using BCI3a data set the proposed AFBRCSP improved the accuracy by 8 34 and the Kappa by 0 1111 compared with FBRCSP where the mean accuracy of AFBRCSP is 80 56 and the kappa is 0 7407 The overall Kappa obtained by the proposed method is also higher than some state of the art methods implying that the proposed method is more reliable

Beck, BRG, Tipper, J & Su, S 1970, 'Comparison of Constant PID Controller and Adaptive PID Controller via Reinforcement Learning for a Rehabilitation Robot', 2022 Australian & New Zealand Control Conference (ANZCC), 2022 Australian & New Zealand Control Conference (ANZCC), IEEE.
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Caruana, A, Bandara, M, Catchpoole, D & Kennedy, PJ 1970, 'Beyond Topics: Discovering Latent Healthcare Objectives from Event Sequences', AI 2021: Advances in Artificial Intelligence, Springer International Publishing, pp. 368-380.
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A meaningful understanding of clinical protocols and patient pathways helps improve healthcare outcomes. Electronic health records (EHR) reflect real-world treatment behaviours that are used to enhance healthcare management but present challenges; protocols and pathways are often loosely defined and with elements frequently not recorded in EHRs, complicating the enhancement. To solve this challenge, healthcare objectives associated with healthcare management activities can be indirectly observed in EHRs as latent topics. Topic models, such as Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA), are used to identify latent patterns in EHR data. However, they do not examine the ordered nature of EHR sequences, nor do they appraise individual events in isolation. Our novel approach, the Categorical Sequence Encoder (CaSE) addresses these shortcomings. The sequential nature of EHRs is captured by CaSE’s event-level representations, revealing latent healthcare objectives. In synthetic EHR sequences, CaSE outperforms LDA by up to 37% at identifying healthcare objectives. In the real-world MIMIC-III dataset, CaSE identifies meaningful representations that could critically enhance protocol and pathway development.

Darcy, S 1970, 'The social ecology of organisational, community and macro policy support for entrepreneurs with disability', Disability at Work Summit - Shaping our Future, Online.

Donnelly, C, Janssen, A, Shah, K, Harnett, P, Greenaway, S, Phillips, J, Currow, D, Bines, C, Sudini, L, Mellor, R, Millican, J & Shaw, T 1970, 'A qualitative study of factors influencing Advanced Care Planning in oncology', ASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL OF CLINICAL ONCOLOGY, WILEY, pp. 178-179.

Favaloro, J, Bryant, C, Abadir, E, Yang, S, Gardiner, S, Nassif, N, Sedger, L, Joshua, D & Ho, PJ 1970, 'Single-cell analysis reveals disease induced perturbations of CD8+T-cell subsets in the bone marrow and peripheral blood of newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients', CLINICAL LYMPHOMA MYELOMA & LEUKEMIA, CIG MEDIA GROUP, LP, pp. S14-S14.

Gavin, M, Steele, L, Darcy, S & Johns, K 1970, 'From Neglect to Modern Slavery: Specialised Disability Employment Programs in Australia', Association of Industrial Relations Academics in Australia and New Zealand, University of Sydney.

Gentile, C, Roche, C, Beck, D & Xue, M 1970, '3D bioprinted cardiac tissues for heart repair', TISSUE ENGINEERING PART A, Tissue-Engineering-and-Regenerative-Medicine-International-Society-Asia-Pacific-Chapter Conference (TERMIS-AP), MARY ANN LIEBERT, INC, SOUTH KOREA, Jeju, pp. 169-169.

Gentile, C, Sharma, P, Ming, CLC, Beck, D, Figtree, G & Boyle, A 1970, 'Advanced pathophysiological in vitro 3D models of the human heart using cardiac spheroids', TISSUE ENGINEERING PART A, Tissue-Engineering-and-Regenerative-Medicine-International-Society-Asia-Pacific-Chapter Conference (TERMIS-AP), MARY ANN LIEBERT, INC, SOUTH KOREA, Jeju, pp. 207-207.

he, P, Papanicolaou, M, Rutting, S, Reddy, D, Ammit, A, Xenaki, D, Van Reyk, D, Oliver, B & Reddy, K 1970, 'Oxidative stress is a key driving mechanism in the pathogenesis of inflammatory lung diseases', 03.03 - Mechanisms of lung injury and repair, ERS International Congress 2022 abstracts, European Respiratory Society.
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Iqbal, H, Zheng, J, Chai, R & Chandrasekaran, S 1970, 'Regression Based Real Time Hand Gesture Recognition and Control for Electric Powered Wheelchair', Australasian Conference on Robotics and Automation, ACRA.
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Steering an electric-powered wheelchair is an onerous task for a paralyzed person. Hence, there is a need for either designing a new one or modifying the existing electric-powered wheelchair that is intelligent enough and provides easy daily use for a person who is not capable of handling the manual steering process. Our proposed system is designed to receive, process and classify the surface electromyography (sEMG) signals and gesture recognition techniques before controlling the wheelchair. This paper is based on an analysis of sEMG signals and gesture recognition techniques of a user's dominant limb, and its deployment through Artificial Intelligence based machine learning algorithms. In myoelectric control, classification has been showing promising results with high accuracy but is well known for non-intuitive control. The regression model, on the other hand, allows human-like natural movements, producing proportional and simultaneous control. We are using hand gesture control of an unidirectional wheelchair using sEMG as wearable sensors. Five basic gestures are recognized and classified using feature extraction and a machine learning algorithm. These gestures are mapped to the unidirectional motion commands to steer the wheelchair. The classified algorithm and realtime navigation of the smart wheelchair using the proposed algorithm have been tested by 6 healthy subjects. The results demonstrate performance improvement and gesture recognition accuracy of 95.50% and reduced training time (< 2 mins), compared to state-of-art regression models. In addition, this algorithm has been applied to proportional and simultaneous myoelectric control in real-time.

Jia, M, Alboom, MV, Goubert, L, Bracke, P, Gabrys, B & Musial, K 1970, 'Analysing Egocentric Networks via Local Structure and Centrality Measures: A Study on Chronic Pain Patients', 2022 International Conference on Information Networking (ICOIN), 2022 International Conference on Information Networking (ICOIN), IEEE, SOUTH KOREA, pp. 152-157.
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Typical centrality measures assess the importance of a node based on the distances to other nodes, shortest paths passing through it, or the eigen-structure of the adjacency matrix. Local structure measures, on the other hand, capture network topological features by measuring how a motif is constructed from a substructure. In this paper, we discuss the suitability of several centrality measures and local structure measures in egocentric networks and investigate the relationships among them. Through experiments on 303 ego social networks of chronic pain patients, we find that patients of lower pain grade indeed have better connections in their networks than those of higher pain grade, and that including centrality measures and local structure measures as additional features leads to significant improvement in a machine learning task that predicts the patients' pain grades.

Jia, M, Van Alboom, M, Goubert, L, Bracke, P, Gabrys, B & Musial, K 1970, 'Analysing Ego-Networks via Typed-Edge Graphlets: A Case Study of Chronic Pain Patients', Complex Networks & Their Applications X, Springer International Publishing, pp. 514-526.
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Graphlets, being the fundamental building blocks, are essential for understanding and analysing complex networks. The original notion of graphlets, however, is unable to encode edge attributes in many types of networks, especially in egocentric social networks. In this paper, we introduce a framework to embed edge type information in graphlets and generate a Typed-Edge Graphlets Degree Vector (TyE-GDV). Through applying the proposed method to a case study of chronic pain patients, we find that not only a patient’s social network structure could inform his/her perceived pain grade, but also particular types of social relationships, such as friends, colleagues and healthcare workers, are more important in understanding the effect of chronic pain. Further, we demonstrate that including TyE-GDV as additional features leads to significant improvement in a typical machine learning task.

Katuwandeniya, K, Kiss, SH, Shi, L & Miro, JV 1970, 'Exact-likelihood User Intention Estimation for Scene-compliant Shared-control Navigation', 2022 International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2022 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), IEEE.
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Koh, ES, Moore, A, Francis, RJ, Ebert, MA, Gan, HK, Lee, ST, Lau, E, Rossi, A, Grose, A, Ng, SP, Barnes, EH, Moffat, BA, Scott, FE, Adda, L, Foroudi, F, Nowak, AK, Bailey, DL, Back, M, Lourenco, RDA & Scott, AM 1970, 'A prospective, multi-centre trial of FET-PET In Glioblastoma patients - the TROG 18.06 FIG Study: results of the Nuclear Medicine and Radiation Oncology credentialing program', INTERNAL MEDICINE JOURNAL, WILEY, pp. 23-24.

Leung, KFC, Golzan, M, Egodage, C, Rodda, S, Cracknell, R, Macken, P & Kaushik, S 1970, 'Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on ophthalmic presentations to an Australian outer metropolitan and rural emergency department', CLINICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL OPHTHALMOLOGY, WILEY, pp. 896-897.

Oliveira, FT, Tong, BW, Garcia, JA & Gay, VC 1970, 'CogWorldTravel: Design of a Game-Based Cognitive Screening Instrument', Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics), Joint Conference on Serious Games (JCSG), Springer International Publishing, Bauhaus Univ Weimar, Weimar, GERMANY, pp. 125-139.
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Cognitive Screening Instruments are helpful in the early detection of cognitive changes and possible underlying dementia. These instruments test all major cognitive domains of an individual. Serious games have been investigated as an alternative approach for cognitive assessment because of their ability to motivate. Previous work mostly focused on finding out whether it is feasible to use a serious game for such purpose. We decided to investigate further how a serious game can be engaging and fun while prioritizing the cognitive assessment. In this paper, we describe the design, development, and evaluation of CogWorldTravel, a serious game that has the potential to be used for cognitive screening as it measures at least one aspect of each cognitive domain. CogWorldTravel features six game tasks that involve recognition memory, attention, working memory, language, immediate memory span, processing speed, inhibition, recognition of emotions, visuoconstructional, perceptual-motor, and planning abilities. The serious game also accommodates age-related changes and considers the gameplay preferences of older adults.

Oliveira, FTV, Garcia, JA & Gay, VC 1970, 'Evaluation of CogWorldTravel: A Serious Game for Cognitive Screening', 2022 IEEE 10th International Conference on Serious Games and Applications for Health(SeGAH), 2022 IEEE 10th International Conference on Serious Games and Applications for Health(SeGAH), IEEE, pp. 1-8.
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As the world population is growing older, there is an urge to develop new technologies to support older adults, who are at a greater risk for the onset of dementia. Cognitive Screening Instruments (CSIs) can be used to screen for dementia. While there are a significant number of available well-researched and accepted CSIs, they are associated with drawbacks. Serious games have been investigated as an alternative instrument to overcome the constraints of traditional methods. The use of serious games for cognitive screening is still a relatively new field of research, with previous works mostly focusing on finding out whether there is a correlation or not between games and cognitive performance. Serious games that engage older adults and meet the criteria of CSIs remain an open challenge. To address this challenge, we developed CogWorldTravel, a serious game for the cognitive screening of older adults. In this paper, we describe the results of the evaluation of CogWorldTravel, which consisted of conducting semi-structured interviews with five experts in dementia assessment. Results suggest that the game involves recognition memory, attention, working memory, language, immediate memory span, processing speed, inhibition, recognition of emotions, visuoconstructional, perceptual-motor, and planning abilities.

Qu, Z, Tegegne, Y, Simoff, SJ, Kennedy, PJ, Catchpoole, DR & Nguyen, QV 1970, 'Enhancing Understandability of Omics Data with SHAP, Embedding Projections and Interactive Visualisations', Communications in Computer and Information Science, Springer Nature Singapore, pp. 58-72.
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Uniform Manifold Approximation and Projection (UMAP) is a new and effective non-linear dimensionality reduction (DR) method recently applied in biomedical informatics analysis. UMAP’s data transformation process is complicated and lacks transparency. Principal component analysis (PCA) is a conventional and essential DR method for analysing single-cell datasets. PCA projection is linear and easy to interpret. The UMAP is more scalable and accurate, but the complex algorithm makes it challenging to endorse the users’ trust. Another challenge is that some single-cell data have too many dimensions, making the computational process inefficient and lacking accuracy. This paper uses linkable and interactive visualisations to understand UMAP results by comparing PCA results. An explainable machine learning model, SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) run on Random Forest (RF), is used to optimise the input single-cell data to make UMAP and PCA processes more efficient. We demonstrate that this approach can be applied to high-dimensional omics data exploration to visually validate informative molecule markers and cell populations identified from the UMAP-reduced dimensionality space.

Rathnayake, S, Ditz, B, Van Nijnatten, J, Brandsma, C, Timens, W, Hiemstra, P, Ten Hacken, N, Oliver, B, Kerstjens, H, Van Den Berge, M & Faiz, A 1970, 'Influence of smoking on bronchial epithelial cell composition by cellular deconvolution and IHC', 03.01 - Molecular pathology and functional genomics, ERS International Congress 2022 abstracts, European Respiratory Society.
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Reddy, K, Rathnayake, S, Xenaki, D, Faiz, A & Oliver, B 1970, 'The Y-chromosome regulates hallmark features of asthma and COPD', 03.01 - Molecular pathology and functional genomics, ERS International Congress 2022 abstracts, European Respiratory Society.
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Travis, G, Simpson, A & Nassif, N 1970, 'Quantitating PTEN and PTENp1 pseudogene expression: Potential for future cancer therapy', 34th Annual Lorne Cancer Conference, 34th Annual Lorne Cancer Conference, Lorne Victoria.

Tyma, B, Dhillon, R, Sivabalan, P & Wieder, B 1970, 'Understanding accountability in blockchain systems', Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald, Melbourne (online), pp. 1625-1655.
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PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine how accountability is constructed for blockchain systems. With the aim of increasing knowledge on accountability across three different types of blockchains (public, private and consortium), the researchers ask: how do blockchain systems construct accountability?Design/methodology/approachThis study draws on theorising in the accountability literature to study how blockchains relate to our construction and understanding of accountability. A qualitative field study of the Australian blockchain technology landscape is conducted, with insights garnered from 18 blockchain experts.FindingsFindings reveal that different types of blockchains employ different forms and mechanisms of accountability and in novel ways previously less acknowledged in the literature. Importantly, this study finds that accountability does not require a principal–agent relation and can still manifest in less pure applications of blockchain technology across a wide range of stakeholders, contrary to that espoused in earlier exhortations of blockchain use in interdisciplinary literature. This study also finds that similar subtypes of accountability operate very differently across public, private and consortium blockchains and there exists an inverse relation between trust and consensus building through transparency as blockchains progress from public to private types. Overall, this study offers novel explanations for the relevance of greater accountability in blockchains, especially when the assumptions of public blockchains are softened and applied as private and consortium blockchains.Originali...

Vettori, L, Joukhdar, H, Anh, HT, Sarmast, HMS, Filipe, E, Cox, T, Kabakova, I, Rnjak-Kovacina, J & Gentile, C 1970, 'Silk fibroin as a bioink for cardiovascular applications', TISSUE ENGINEERING PART A, Tissue-Engineering-and-Regenerative-Medicine-International-Society-Asia-Pacific-Chapter Conference (TERMIS-AP), MARY ANN LIEBERT, INC, SOUTH KOREA, Jeju, pp. 264-264.

Zhang, M, Pan, S, Chang, X, Su, S, Hu, J, Haffari, G & Yang, B 1970, 'BaLeNAS: Differentiable Architecture Search via the Bayesian Learning Rule', 2022 IEEE/CVF Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR), 2022 IEEE/CVF Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR), IEEE, New Orleans, LA, pp. 11861-11870.
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Differentiable Architecture Search (DARTS) has received massive attention in recent years, mainly because it significantly reduces the computational cost through weight sharing and continuous relaxation. However, more recent works find that existing differentiable NAS techniques struggle to outperform naive baselines, yielding deteriorative architectures as the search proceeds. Rather than directly optimizing the architecture parameters, this paper formulates the neural architecture search as a distribution learning problem through relaxing the architecture weights into Gaussian distributions. By leveraging the natural-gradient variational inference (NGVI), the architecture distribution can be easily optimized based on existing codebases without incurring more memory and computational consumption. We demonstrate how the differentiable NAS benefits from Bayesian principles, enhancing exploration and improving stability. The experimental results on NAS benchmark datasets confirm the significant improvements the proposed framework can make. In addition, instead of simply applying the argmax on the learned parameters, we further leverage the recently-proposed training-free proxies in NAS to select the optimal architecture from a group architectures drawn from the optimized distribution, where we achieve state-of-the-art results on the NAS-Bench-201 and NAS-Bench-1shot1 benchmarks. Our best architecture in the DARTS search space also obtains competitive test errors with 2.37%, 15.72%, and 24.2% on CIFAR-10, CIFAR-100, and ImageNet, respectively.

Zhou, S, Eager, D, Halkon, B, Walker, P, Covey, K & Braiden, S 1970, 'Investigation and Comparison of the Sound Quality the Wirecable Lure and Battery-Operated Lure used for Greyhound Racing', International Congress on Sound and Vibration, Singapore.

Aranda, S, De Abreu Lourenco, R, Thomas, M, Crothers, A, Lewandowska, M, Saing, S, Addo, R, Fagery, M, Kim, N, Cronin, P & Viney, R Centre for Health Economics Research and Evaluation, University of Technology Sydney 2022, Review of the Efficient Funding of Chemotherapy (EFC) Funding Arrangements. Interim Report. July 2022., Released online.

Aranda, S, De Abreu Lourenço, R, Webster, R, Thomas, M, Crothers, A, Saing, S, Addo, R, Fagery, M, Kim, N, Cronin, P & Viney, R Centre for Health Economics Research and Evaluation (CHERE) University of Technology Sydney (UTS) 2022, Review of the Efficient Funding of Chemotherapy (EFC) Funding Arrangements.Interim Report, Jan 2022, Sydney, Australia.

Dew, A, Plumb, J, Gallego, G, Garbellini, S, Imms, C, Darcy, S, McVilly, K, Hemsley, B, O'Donovan, M-A & Smith-Merry, J Centre for Disability Research and Policy 2022, Setting an agenda for disability research in Australia: synthesis and refinement, Setting an agenda for disability research in Australia, no. Phase 3 report, Sydney.
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Given the broad range of issues, the Consortium used Q-Methodology (or Q sort) as a way of synthesising findings and exploring how different individuals view important areas for research. Q Methodology explores people’s different views on a topic. This method is a way of exploring where there are commonalities and differences between respondents in relation to a specific topic.The Consortium looked at issues that appeared as gaps in Phase 1 and priorities in Phase 2. The findings were summarised in 25 statements such as: How to design buildings and spaces that work for people with disability; ways to address abuse, violence, neglect, exploitation and coercion; and Influences on community attitudes towards disability.The Consortium recruited people with disability including advocates, academics/researchers, policy makers, and family members/supporters. Demographic data were collected and participants were asked to sort each of the 25 statements according to how they should guide the NDRP research agenda. This involved identifying the statements they agreed with the most and the least, and which they felt neutral about. The Consortium then analysed the data using a statistical technique called factor analysis where each respondent’s sorting was compared to others’ responses (whether they were similar or different). This approach allowed the researchers to identify any clusters of commonalities and differences around particular statements; such clusters are described as viewpoints. Following the statement sorts, respondents were also asked whether there was anything they wanted to add that might have been missed in the statements.

Lewis, R, Woods, M, Brown, D, Parker, D, Sutton, N & McAllister, G University of Technology Sydney 2022, Support at Home: A Commentary on the design of the proposed unified program., pp. 1-42, Sydney.
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The following Commentary on the strengths and shortcomings of the currentproposals for a unified Support at Home program and the submission of specificproposals for consideration in the next round of consultations, is offered byresearchers at the UTS Ageing Research Collaborative (UARC).

O'Donovan, M-A, Dew, A, Imms, C, Smith-Merry, J, Hemsley, B, Gilroy, J, Meltzer, A, Yen, I, Ellem, K, Mueller, A, Darcy, S, McMahon, T, Spencer, R, Murfitt, K, Guastella, A, Carey, G, Plumb, J, McVilly, K, O'Shea, A & Gallego, G Centre for Disability Research and Policy 2022, Setting an agenda for disability research in Australia: consultation report, Sydney.
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This report presents the results of the Phase 2b consultation conducted with 974 individuals from 21 non government organisations (NGOs), including service providers and disabled peoples’ organisations (DPOs), the First Nations-focused National Disability Research Agenda survey and online focus groups and in-depth interviews with people with augmentative and alternative communication needs.It is part of multi-phase research agenda setting exercise that has been conducted to understand existing disability research in Australia and consult with the disability sector to understand their priorities for disability research. This research was funded by the National Disability Research Partnership (NDRP) to underpin their development of an agenda for Australian disability research over the next decade.This research involved three phases:Mapping of recent Australian research related to people with disabilityConsultation with people with disability and their representative organisations; researchers; families and supporters; service providers; governments and other stakeholders to identify key issues. The consultation included a survey.Synthesis and refinement of findings from the first two phases to contribute to setting an agenda for disability research in Australia.

Sutton, N, Ma, N, Yang, JS, Lewis, R, Brown, D, Woods, M, McEwen, C & Parker, D The University of Technology Sydney 2022, Australia’s Aged Care Sector: Full-Year Report (2021–22), Sydney, Australia.

Viney, R, Goodall, S, De Abreu Lourenco, R, Thomas, M, Addo, R, Saing, S & Kotnala, A Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care 2022, Review of the discount rate in the PBAC Guidelines - Report, Online.

Woods, M, Lewis, R, Brown, D, Parker, D, Sutton, N, Rawlings-Way, O & Sinclair, D University of Technology Sydney 2022, Support at Home: Response to the Department of Health and Aged Care discussion paper (October 2022), Sydney, Australia.

Woods, M, Sutton, N, McAllister, G, Brown, D & Parker, D University of Technology Sydney 2022, Sustainability of the Aged Care Sector: Discussion Paper, pp. 1-84, Sydney.
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This Discussion Paper aims to support and promote an informed national policydebate on the sustainability of publicly subsidised aged care services in Australia.A sustainable aged care system is crucial to current and future senior Australians and theirfamilies. Equally, it is of fundamental importance to taxpayers, providers and the sector’sworkforce. Sustainability has several dimensions. The four addressed in this Paper are: taxpayeraffordability; community satisfaction with the care provided; workforce availability; andprovider viability.The current aged care system has been under stress for some time and the situation is worsening.Demand-side pressures are arising from demographic and health changes in Australia’s ageingpopulation and from community expectations for safer and higher quality care.On the supply side, there are already significant constraints on the sustainable availability of anappropriately skilled aged care workforce, which will likely worsen as the working-age proportionof the population declines. In addition, sector viability is under threat, given that the financialperformance of most, though not all, providers who deliver the care is generally poor, especiallyin residential care.And yet, the costs of improving the quality and safety of services will need to increase toaddress community dissatisfaction with a number of aged care services. Staff wages andconditions must rise so that the sector can compete for skilled workers. Additional investmentfunding is also needed in the sector to respond to growing demand.Government spending on aged care will need to rise. However, budgetary concerns raisequestions about the fiscal sustainability of significant increases, particularly in the contextof higher national debt in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, consumercontributions to the cost of aged care services are low, even among senior Australians whohave the financial capacity to pay more.

Chhor, M, Tulpar, E, Nguyen, T, Cranfield, C, Gorrie, CA, Chan, YL, Chen, H, Oliver, BG, McClements, L & McGrath, KC 2022, 'E-cigarette Aerosol Condensate leads to Impaired Coronary Endothelial Cell Health and Restricted Angiogenesis', Research Square Platform LLC.
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Cranfield, CG 2022, 'Preface', p. v.

Fernandez, TT, Johnston, B, Gross, S, Cozic, S, Poulain, M, Mahmodi, H, Kabakova, I, Withford, M & Fuerbach, A 2022, 'Ultrafast laser inscribed waveguides in tailored fluoride glasses: An enabling technology for mid-infrared integrated photonics devices'.

Ghorbanpour, M, Richards, C, Pienaar, D, Sesperez, K, Es.c, HA, Nikolic, V, Orlic, NK, Mikovic, Z, Stefanovic, M, Cakic, Z, Alqudah, A, Cole, L, Gorrie, C, McGrath, K, Kavurma, MM, Warkianib, ME & McClements, L 2022, 'A placenta-on-a-chip model to determine the regulation of FKBPL and galectin-3 in preeclampsia', Research Square Platform LLC.
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Karami, S, Lakzian, E, Lee, BJ, Warkiani, ME, Mahian, O & Ahmadi, G 2022, 'COVID-19 Spreading Prediction in a Control Room of Power Plant Using CFD Simulation', Research Square Platform LLC.
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Kedziora, DJ, Nguyen, T-D, Musial, K & Gabrys, B 2022, 'On Taking Advantage of Opportunistic Meta-knowledge to Reduce Configuration Spaces for Automated Machine Learning', arXiv.
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Khuat, TT & Gabrys, B 2022, 'hyperbox-brain: A Toolbox for Hyperbox-based Machine Learning Algorithms', arXiv.
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Khuat, TT, Kedziora, DJ & Gabrys, B 2022, 'The Roles and Modes of Human Interactions with Automated Machine Learning Systems', arXiv.

Li, M-Y, Qin, Y-Q, Li, J-S, Zhao, P, Tian, Y-G, Li, K-C, Oliver, BG & Liu, X-F 2022, 'Effective-Component Compatibility of Bufei Yishen Formula Ⅲ Ameliorated COPD By Improving Airway Epithelial Cell Senescence Via Promoting Mitophagy By Nrf2/PINK1 Pathway', Research Square Platform LLC.
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Nguyen, H, Phung, A, Nguyen, L, Nguyen, Q, Tran, T, Nguyen, T & Ho-Pham, L 2022, 'Association between dietary factors and breast cancer risk: A matched case-control study in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam', Research Square Platform LLC.
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Niu, J-Q, Yu, G, Su, Y, Guo, C, Yi, C, Yu, B, Chen, H, Cui, Y, Wang, X, Wang, Y, Chen, X, Wang, S, Wang, Q, Chen, X, Hu, X, Mei, F, Verkhratsky, A & Xiao, L 2022, 'Pathological oligodendrocyte precursor cells revealed in human schizophrenic brains and trigger schizophrenia-like behaviors and synaptic defects in genetic animal model', Research Square Platform LLC.
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Pham, NHT, Joglekar, MV, Wong, WKM, Nassif, NT, Simpson, AM & Hardikar, AA 2022, 'The role of short-chain fatty acids on insulin sensitivity: a systematic review and meta-analysis', Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
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Posthuma, S, Darcy, S & Gauntlett, B 2022, 'Rethinking Accessible Travel & Tourism', 2Ser.
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Australians living with disability often face enormous challenges when travelling. From using digital devices to purchase tickets, to boarding planes, to finding accessible attractions at a destination - the experience of travel and tourism is not equal for all Australians. This episode we look at the challenges and opportunities of accessible tourism.Guests: Simon Darcy, Professor of Social Inclusion at the UTS Business School and Ben Gauntlett, Disability Discrimination Commissioner at the Australian Human Rights Commission.

Richardson, E, McEwen, A, Newton-John, T & Jacobs, C 2022, 'Defining Core Outcomes of Reproductive Genetic Carrier Screening: A Delphi survey of Australian and New Zealand stakeholders', Research Square Platform LLC.
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Rzhevskiy, AS, Kapitannikova, AY, Vasilescu, SA, Gavrilov, MY, Bazaz, SR, Taratkin, MS, Enikeev, DV, Lekarev, VY, Shpot, EV, Butnaru, DV, Deyev, SM, Thiery, JP, Zvyagin, AV & Warkiani, ME 2022, 'Isolation of circulating tumor cells from seminal fluid of patients with prostate cancer using inertial microfluidics', Research Square Platform LLC.
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Scriven, A, Kedziora, DJ, Musial, K & Gabrys, B 2022, 'The Technological Emergence of AutoML: A Survey of Performant Software and Applications in the Context of Industry', arXiv.
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Tran, T, Ho-Le, T, Bliuc, D, Abrahamsen, B, Hansen, L, Vestergaard, P, Center, JR & Nguyen, TV 2022, 'Skeletal Age for mapping the impact of fracture on mortality', Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
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Warkiani, ME, Vasilescu, S, Ding, L, Parast, FY & Nosrati, R 2022, 'A Biomimetic Microfluidic Selection Platform Providing Improved Sperm Quality Metrics Compared to Swim-Up', Research Square Platform LLC.
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