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Association between food-outlet availability near secondary schools and junk-food purchasing among Australian adolescentsWe sought to investigate the association between food-outlet availability near Australian secondary schools and frequency of Australian students’ discretionary food purchases.
Research
Study protocol for Healthy Conversations @ Playgroup: a multi-site cluster randomized controlled trial of an intervention to promote healthy lifestyle behaviours in young children attending community playgroupsEarly childhood is a critical window for preventing obesity and chronic disease. Yet, 1 in 4 Australian children aged 5 years and under are affected by overweight or obesity; and significant proportions of children under 5 years fail to meet guidelines for diet quality, physical activity (PA), screen time, and sleep.
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A common genetic variant of a mitochondrial RNA processing enzyme predisposes to insulin resistanceMitochondrial energy metabolism plays an important role in the pathophysiology of insulin resistance. Recently, a missense N437S variant was identified in the MRPP3 gene, which encodes a mitochondrial RNA processing enzyme within the RNase P complex, with predicted impact on metabolism. We used CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing to introduce this variant into the mouse Mrpp3 gene and show that the variant causes insulin resistance on a high-fat diet.
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Sun-health behaviours and attitudes towards sun safety amongst Australian teenagers: a qualitative updateThis study aimed to explore current attitudes towards sun protection, and sun-seeking behaviour among young Australian adolescents. It was done as part of a larger project aiming to develop a digital resource to support young people in making informed sun-health decisions.
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Current understanding of the neutrophil transcriptome in health and diseaseNeutrophils are key cells of the innate immune system. It is now understood that this leukocyte population is diverse in both the basal composition and functional plasticity. Underlying this plasticity is a post-translational framework for rapidly achieving early activation states, but also a transcriptional capacity that is becoming increasingly recognized by immunologists.
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Investigating associations between birth order and autism diagnostic phenotypesBirth order effects have been linked to variability in intelligence, educational attainment and sexual orientation. First- and later-born children have been linked to an increased likelihood of an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnosis, with a smaller body of evidence implicating decreases in cognitive functioning with increased birth order.
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Addressing normalization using culturally relevant approaches: An important adjunct to reducing the burden of impetigo and scabiesImpetigo, a bacterial infection caused by Streptococcus pyogenes and S. aureus of the superficial dermis affects up to 162 million children at any one time. Three out of every five school-children in Samoa have active or recently healed impetigo, far higher than the global median impetigo prevalence surpassing previous estimates for the Oceania region.
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Delayed cortical processing of auditory stimuli in children with autism spectrum disorder: A meta-analysis of electrophysiological studiesSeveral researchers have hypothesised that individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) show encoding delays in their obligatory event-related potentials (ERPs)/ event-related fields (ERFs) for low-level auditory information compared to neurotypical (NT) samples. However, empirical research has yielded varied findings, such as low-level auditory processing in ASD samples being unimpaired, superior, or impaired compared to NT samples. Diverse outcomes have also been reported for studies investigating ASD-NT differences in functional lateralisation of delays.
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Women Diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer: Patient and Carer Experiences and PerspectivesBy directly engaging with women diagnosed with ovarian cancer, this study aimed to explore and identify their view of the health symptoms and outcomes that matter most to them as they traverse their disease pathway.
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Use of linked administrative and laboratory data to confirm that serum 25(OH)D levels in pregnant women can be predicted from satellite estimates of ultraviolet radiationSerum 25 hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels of pregnant women have been linked to various health outcomes in their offspring. Satellite-derived ultraviolet radiation (UVR) data have been used as a proxy for 25(OH)D levels, as individual-level cohort studies are time-consuming, costly and only feasible for common outcomes.