19683 research outputs found
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Implementing privacy preserving record linkage: Insights from Australian use cases
No full textObjective: To describe the use of privacy preserving linkage methods operationally in Australia, and to present insights and key learnings from their implementation. Methods: Privacy preserving record linkage (PPRL) utilising Bloom filters provides a unique practical mechanism that allows linkage to occur without the release of personally identifiable information (PII), while still ensuring high accuracy. Results: The methodology has received wide uptake within Australia, with four state linkage units with privacy preserving capability. It has enabled access to general practice and private pathology data amongst other, both much sought after datasets previous inaccessible for linkage. Conclusion: The Australian experience suggests privacy preserving linkage is a practical solution for improving data access for policy, planning and population health research. It is hoped interest in this methodology internationally continues to grow
Substance misuse by birth parents: Outcomes for children and young people placed into out-of-home-care
No full textBackground: There is inconsistent evidence regarding the effect of birth parent substance use on developmental outcomes for children placed into out-of-home-care (OOHC). Objective: This study aims to examine how parental substance use affects outcomes of Australian children in out-of-home care, adjusting for key demographic, social and system factors. Participants and setting: Four waves of survey data were collected for children and young people who agreed to participate in the Pathways of Care Longitudinal Study (POCLS) between 2011 and 2018. The study sample included 1,506 children and young people (792 with a history of parental substance misuse) aged 9 months to 17 years who participated in at least one wave of the POCLS and had linked administrative data from the Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ), NSW, Australia. Methods: Multilevel longitudinal models were used to analyse the relationship of child developmental outcomes (physical health, socio-emotional wellbeing, and verbal and non-verbal cognitive ability) with parental substance misuse in their child protection history. Each model included adjustments for child demographics, family socio-economic status, child protection system factors and the unbalanced panel. Results: Children in OOHC with a history of parental substance misuse were more likely to be in the typical range for verbal cognitive development compared to those in OOHC without this history. In addition, younger (9 months to 5 years) children with a record of parental substance misuse exhibited significantly more typical fine and gross motor skill development than those without this history. Conclusions: Concerns that children in OOHC with a history of parental substance misuse may be more affected with regards to early-stage physical development, and later verbal cognitive development than those without this history in OOHC, may not be justified
Reliability and validity of belt-stabilized and tension dynamometry for assessing hip strength and power in uninjured adults
No full textObjectives: To investigate the intra-rater reliability and validity of belt-stabilized and tension dynamometry to assess hip muscle strength and power. Design: Repeated measures. Setting: Biomechanics laboratory. Participants: Seventeen uninjured adults (age = 22.0 ± 2.3y; 13 females). Main outcomes measures: Peak torque (strength) and rate of torque development (RTD; power) were measured for hip abduction, internal rotation, external rotation and extension using an isokinetic dynamometer, and belt-stabilized and tension dynamometry. Results: For peak torque assessment, belt-stabilized and tension dynamometry showed good (Intraclass Correlation Coefficient [ICC] = 0.848–0.899) and good-to-excellent (ICC = 0.848–0.942) reliability, respectively. For RTD, belt-stabilized dynamometry showed fair reliability for abduction (ICC = 0.524) and good reliability for hip internal rotation, external rotation, and extension (ICC = 0.702–0.899). Tension dynamometry showed good reliability for all motions when measuring RTD (ICC = 0.737–0.897). Compared to isokinetic dynamometry, belt-stabilized and tension dynamometry showed good-to-excellent correlations for peak torque assessment (r = 0.503–0.870), and fair-to-good correlations for RTD (r = 0.438–0.674). Bland-Altman analysis showed that measures from belt-stabilized and tension dynamometry had clinically meaningful disagreement with isokinetic dynamometry. Conclusion: Tension dynamometry is reliable for assessing hip strength and power in all assessed motions. Belt-stabilized dynamometry is reliable for assessing internal rotation, external rotation, and extension. Validity of both methods is questionable, considering the lack of agreement with isokinetic dynamometry
Chemical Control of the Field Dodder (Cuscuta campestris) in New-Seeded Alfalfa (Medicago sativa)
No full textField dodder (Cuscuta campestris yuncker) is an important parasitic weed that has negative impacts on the growth and yield of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.). Effective control of field dodder in alfalfa crops is necessary to reduce yield losses. Field studies were conducted to evaluate the efficacy of various herbicides on field dodder in a new-seeded alfalfa crop at three locations (Karaj, Jiroft, and Urmia) in Iran during 2020–2021. The herbicides evaluated were imazethapyr (100 g a.i. ha−1), glyphosate (six doses ranging from 143 to 348 g a.i. ha−1 + ammonium sulfate at 8 kg ha−1), and propyzamide (1250, 1500, and 1750 g a.i. ha−1). The results demonstrated that propyzamide at 1750 g a.i. ha−1 provided complete control of field dodder in terms of percentage change in biomass at first (100%) and second (99%) cuttings of alfalfa in Urmia. The imazethapyr at 100 g a.i. ha−1 provided 96 and 87% control at the first and second cuttings, respectively, whereas propyzamide at 1750 g a.i. ha−1 showed the best efficacy in increasing alfalfa biomass at the first (up to 82%) and the second cuttings (up to 81%), depending on the location. Glyphosate provided reasonable control of the field dodder at the first (73%) and the second cutting (82%). However, at higher rates (307 and 348 g a.i. ha−1), it caused significant reductions in alfalfa biomass due to crop injury, especially at the first cutting. The use of propyzamide at 1750 g a.i. ha−1 is recommended for highly effective control of field dodder in alfalfa crops without compromising the crop yield
A meta-narrative review of research traditions on hidden workers in aging population for transdisciplinary implementation research
No full textHidden workers are defined as the three vulnerable subgroups of workers: the underemployed, the unemployed, and the discouraged workers. Hidden workers indeed the group with multiple identities; a transitioning retiree, jobseeker, caring for some, who may also have long term health conditions and ethnic minority all at the same time. Designing an intervention for this group necessitates the transdisciplinary knowledge. Transdisciplinary knowledge is crucial because it can inform how the intersectoral challenges might be addressed in interventions, and how the intersectoral implementation design and evaluation on hidden workers might be designed. This paper maps the intellectual landscape of the hidden workers in aging population literature to identify key disciplinary research clusters; and to find out how those research clusters are investigating hidden workers. With the meta-narrative review methodology on studies retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection, five research clusters were identified: (1) public health approaches to hidden workers, (2) welfare state and aging workforce, (3) older jobseekers, (4) life course perspective, (5) retirement transitions. Each research cluster focuses on different aspects of hidden workers, with varying research questions and rationales. These include conceptualising the determinants of the hidden workers in aging populations and the complex interrelation with public health. Furthermore, we suggest an analytical framework to allow for better understanding between the research traditions based on (1) the chosen socioecological level of analysis, (2) whether the research question is on the determinant for hidden workers or on the outcome of being hidden and (3) the chronosystem (early/middle/later life) timeframe of research question that is addressed. Through this study, we can identify the main issues faced by hidden workers among the older adults and the measures to address these issues as well as opening up a possibility for cross-sectoral policy responses.</p
Modelling the impacts of volumetric and minimum unit pricing for alcohol on social harms in Australia
No full textAims: Alcohol pricing policies may reduce alcohol-related harms, yet little work has been done to model their effectiveness beyond health outcomes especially in Australia. We aim to estimate the impacts of four taxation and minimum unit pricing (MUP) interventions on selected social harms across sex and age subgroups in Australia. Methods: We used econometrics and epidemiologic simulations using demand elasticity and risk measures. We modelled four policies including (A) uniform excise rates (UER) (based on alcohol units) (B) MUP 1.50. People who consumed alcohol were classified as (a) moderate (≤ 14 Australian standard drinks (SDs) per week) (b) Hazardous (15–42 SDs per week for men and 14–35 ASDs for women) and (c) Harmful (> 42 SDs per week for men and > 35 ASDs for women). Outcomes were sickness absence, sickness presenteeism, unemployment, antisocial behaviours, and police-reported crimes. We used relative risk functions from meta-analysis, cohort study, cross-sectional survey, or attributable fractions from routine criminal records. We applied the potential impact fraction to estimate the reduction in social harms by age group and sex after implementation of pricing policies. Results: All four modelled pricing policies resulted in a decrease in the overall mean baseline of current alcohol consumption, primarily due to fewer people drinking harmful amounts. These policies also reduced the total number of crimes and workplace harms compared to the current taxation system. These reductions were consistent across all age and sex subgroups. Specifically, sickness absence decreased by 0.2–0.4 %, alcohol-related sickness presenteeism by 7–9 %, unemployment by 0.5–0.7 %, alcohol-related antisocial behaviours by 7.3–11.1 %, and crimes by 4–6 %. Of all the policies, the implementation of a $1.50 MUP resulted in the largest reductions across most outcome measures. Conclusion: Our results highlight that alcohol pricing policies can address the burden of social harms in Australia. However, pricing policies should just form part of a comprehensive alcohol policy approach along with other proven policy measures such as bans on aggressive marketing of alcoholic products and enforcing the restrictions on the availability of alcohol through outlet density regulation or reduced hours of sale to have a more impact on social harms
Dose-response of Ex on CRF in CR- Raw Data.xlsx
No full textRaw data file for a systematic review and meta-analysis exploring the incremental dose-response effect of aerobic exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation programs (ExCRP) on cardiorespiratory fitness in comparison to non-exercise controls among people with coronary heart disease (CHD).</p
Fangchinoline Inhibits African Swine Fever Virus Replication by Suppressing the AKT/mTOR/NF-κB Signaling Pathway in Porcine Alveolar Macrophages
No full textAfrican swine fever (ASF), caused by the African swine fever virus (ASFV), is one of the most important infectious diseases that cause high morbidity and mortality in pigs and substantial economic losses to the pork industry of affected countries due to the lack of effective vaccines. The need to develop alternative robust antiviral countermeasures, especially anti-ASFV agents, is of the utmost urgency. This study shows that fangchinoline (FAN), a bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloid found in the roots of Stephania tetrandra of the family Menispermaceae, significantly inhibits ASFV replication in porcine alveolar macrophages (PAMs) at micromolar concentrations (IC50 = 1.66 µM). Mechanistically, the infection of ASFV triggers the AKT/mTOR/NF-κB signaling pathway. FAN significantly inhibits ASFV-induced activation of such pathways, thereby suppressing viral replication. Such a mechanism was confirmed using an AKT inhibitor MK2206 as it inhibited AKT phosphorylation and ASFV replication in PAMs. Altogether, the results suggest that the AKT/mTOR pathway could potentially serve as a treatment strategy for combating ASFV infection and that FAN could potentially emerge as an effective novel antiviral agent against ASFV infections and deserves further in vivo antiviral evaluations
Fetal growth delay caused by loss of non-canonical imprinting is resolved late in pregnancy and culminates in offspring overgrowth
No full textGermline epigenetic programming, including genomic imprinting, substantially influ-ences offspring development. Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2) plays an important role in Histone 3 Lysine 27 trimethylation (H3K27me3)-dependent imprinting, loss of which leads to growth and developmental changes in mouse offspring. In this study, we show that offspring from mouse oocytes lacking the PRC2 protein Embryonic Ectoderm Development (EED) were initially devel-opmentally delayed, characterised by low blastocyst cell counts and substantial growth delay in mid-gestation embryos. This initial developmental delay was resolved as offspring underwent accelerated fetal development and growth in late gestation resulting in offspring that were similar stage and weight to controls at birth. The accelerated development and growth in offspring from Eed-null oocytes was associated with remodelling of the placenta, which involved an increase in fetal and maternal tissue size, conspicuous expansion of the glycogen-enriched cell population, and delayed parturition. Despite placental remodelling and accelerated offspring fetal growth and development, placental efficiency, and fetal blood glucose levels were low, and the fetal blood metabolome was unchanged. Moreover, while expression of the H3K27me3-imprinted gene and amino acid trans-porter Slc38a4 was increased, fetal blood levels of individual amino acids were similar to controls, indicating that placental amino acid transport was not enhanced. Genome-wide analyses identi-fied extensive transcriptional dysregulation and DNA methylation changes in affected placentas, including a range of imprinted and non-imprinted genes. Together, while deletion of Eed in growing oocytes resulted in fetal growth and developmental delay and placental hyperplasia, our data indi-cate a remarkable capacity for offspring fetal growth to be normalised despite inefficient placental function and the loss of H3K27me3-dependent genomic imprinting
Enhancing multi‐site autism research through the development of a collaborative data platform
No full textData repositories, particularly those storing data on vulnerable populations, increasingly need to carefully consider not only what data is being collected, but how it will be used. As such, the Autism Intervention Research Network on Physical Health (AIR-P) has created the Infrastructure for Collaborative Research (ICR) to establish standards on data collection practices in Autism repositories. The ICR will strive to encourage inter-site collaboration, amplify autistic voices, and widen accessibility to data. The ICR is staged as a three-tiered framework consisting of (1) a request for proposals system, (2) a REDCap-based data repository, and (3) public data dashboards to display aggregate de-identified data. Coupled with a review process including autistic and non-autistic researchers, this framework aims to propel the implementation of equitable autism research, enhance standardization within and between studies, and boost transparency and dissemination of findings. In addition, the inclusion of a contact registry that study participants can opt into creates the base for a robust participant pool. As such, researchers can leverage the platform to identify, reach, and distribute electronic materials to a greater proportion of potential participants who likely fall within their eligibility criteria. By incorporating practices that promote effective communication between researchers and participants, the ICR can facilitate research that is both considerate of and a benefit to autistic people.</p