Search

Research

Japan recently experienced a record surge in streptococcal toxic shock syndrome. Our environmental surveillance study reveals that Streptococcus pyogenes persists seasonally, peaking in autumn and winter in rural Japan. The dominant emm1 M1UK sublineage and csrS mutations heighten virulence, highlighting the urgent need for targeted surveillance and interventions.

Research

Burkholderia cepacia complex causes life-threatening respiratory infections. Here, a bacteriophage with activity against B. cenocepacia was isolated from wastewater. It has a genome size of 70,144 bp and has the taxonomic classification Irusalimvirus. It has no genes associated with lysogeny, bacterial resistance, or virulence. 

Research

Ongoing advances in population genomic methodologies have recently enabled the study of millions of loci across hundreds of genomes at a relatively low cost, by leveraging a combination of low-coverage shotgun sequencing and innovative genotype imputation methods. This approach has the potential to provide abundant genotype information at low costs comparable to another widely used cost-effective genotyping approach-that is, SNP panels-while avoiding potential issues related to loci being ascertained in distantly related populations.

Research

The efficacy of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy in solid tumours is limited by immunosuppression and antigen heterogeneity. To overcome these barriers, 'armoured' CAR T cells, which secrete proinflammatory cytokines, have been developed. However, their clinical application has been limited because of toxicity related to peripheral expression of the armouring transgene. 

Research

Although it is well established that youth with type 1 Diabetes (T1D) experience high rates of distress, current clinical care is often under-resourced and unable to provide sufficient or timely psychological support. The current study was designed to evaluate the safety, usability and feasibility of 'COMPASS,' a self-compassion chatbot intervention. 

Research

BNIP3 and NIX are the main receptors for mitophagy, but their mechanisms of action remain elusive. Here, we used correlative light EM (CLEM) and electron tomography to reveal the tight attachment of isolation membranes (IMs) to mitochondrial protrusions, often connected with ER via thin tubular and/or linear structures.

Research

Young men aged 18-25 years are at disproportionately increased risk for gambling problems compared to their older or female counterparts. The unique mechanisms that precipitate these problems in this group remain unclear. Data from the largest longitudinal cohort study on Australian men's health (the Ten to Men Study) were used to identify the psychosocial, health-related, and gambling-related behavioral predictors of problem gambling severity in 265 young men aged 18-25 years. Hierarchical multiple ordinal logistic regression analyses found these predictors to explain a moderate proportion of variance in problem gambling severity. 

Research

Parents of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often make disclosure decisions about their child's ADHD on their behalf. While disclosure can facilitate access to support, it risks stigma. Despite ADHD being one of the most common neurodevelopmental conditions, little is known about parent's experiences in relating information about their child's ADHD diagnosis or medication use, to others.

Research

Survivors of preterm birth (<37 weeks' gestation) have low peak oxygen uptake, a global measure of aerobic fitness and an established predictor of increased morbidity and mortality. However, little is known about other cardiopulmonary outcome measures in this population. We addressed the hypothesis that preterm birth is associated with abnormal respiratory, cardiovascular and metabolic responses to exercise, as assessed by cardiopulmonary exercise testing, via a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Research

Family Day Care (FDC) is an essential service supporting Australian families requiring convenient, versatile, and quality education and care for their children. FDC educators’ mental wellbeing (MWB), often overlooked, is vital to ensure optimal education and care. This study aimed to gauge Australian FDC educators’ MWB and identify factors positively or negatively affecting MWB.