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Research

The relationship between dog ownership, dog play, family dog walking, and pre-schooler social-emotional development: findings from the PLAYCE observational study

Regular physical activity provides children with health and developmental benefits. This study investigated if active play and walking with the family dog was associated with better social-emotional development in young children.

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School-based bullying intervention programs in Australia and New Zealand

Kevin Natasha Helen Runions Pearce Monks BSc (Hons) BEd MA PhD PhD (Public Health), PostGrad Dip (Health Promotion), BApp Sc MPH BA(Psych) PhD

Research

Key steps in our journey to a COVID-19 vaccine program

Providing a safe and effective coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) vaccination program is required to mitigate against the current and future negative impacts on the health and wellbeing of all Australians from COVID‐19. An effective vaccination program is a key element required to facilitate economic recovery, safe movement throughout and beyond Australia and a return to the quality of life previously experienced.

Research

Tumour draining lymph node-generated CD8 T cells play a role in controlling lung metastases after a primary tumour is removed but not when adjuvant immunotherapy is used

Surgical resection of cancer remains the frontline therapy for millions of patients annually, but post-operative recurrence is common, with a relapse rate of around 45% for non-small cell lung cancer. The tumour draining lymph nodes (dLN) are resected at the time of surgery for staging purposes, and this cannot be a null event for patient survival and future response to immune checkpoint blockade treatment. This project investigates cancer surgery, lymphadenectomy, onset of metastatic disease, and response to immunotherapy in a novel model that closely reflects the clinical setting. In a murine metastatic lung cancer model, primary subcutaneous tumours were resected with associated dLNs remaining intact, completely resected or partially resected.

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Associations between the human immune system and gut microbiome with neurodevelopment in the first 5 years of life: A systematic scoping review

The aim of this review was to map the literature assessing associations between maternal or infant immune or gut microbiome biomarkers and child neurodevelopmental outcomes within the first 5 years of life. We conducted a PRISMA-ScR compliant review of peer-reviewed, English-language journal articles.

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Ancestral SARS-CoV-2, but not Omicron, replicates less efficiently in primary pediatric nasal epithelial cells

Children typically experience more mild symptoms of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) when compared to adults. There is a strong body of evidence that children are also less susceptible to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection with the ancestral viral isolate.

Research

‘It’s All About Context’: Building School Capacity to Implement a Whole-School Approach to Bullying

Student bullying behaviours are a significant social issue in schools worldwide. Whilst school staff have access to quality bullying prevention interventions, schools can face significant challenges implementing the whole-school approach required to address the complexity of these behaviours.

Research

Spatiotemporal mapping of malaria incidence in Sudan using routine surveillance data

Malaria is a serious threat to global health, with over 95 % of the cases reported in 2020 by the World Health Organization in African countries, including Sudan. Sudan is a low-income country with a limited healthcare system and a substantial burden of malaria.

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Genome-wide analyses of individual differences in quantitatively assessed reading- and language-related skills in up to 34,000 people

The use of spoken and written language is a fundamental human capacity. Individual differences in reading- and language-related skills are influenced by genetic variation, with twin-based heritability estimates of 30 to 80% depending on the trait. The genetic architecture is complex, heterogeneous, and multifactorial, but investigations of contributions of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were thus far underpowered.

Research

Multi-omics analysis defines highly refractory RAS burdened immature subgroup of infant acute lymphoblastic leukemia

KMT2A-rearranged infant acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) represents the most refractory type of childhood leukemia. To uncover the molecular heterogeneity of this disease, we perform RNA sequencing, methylation array analysis, whole exome and targeted deep sequencing on 84 infants with KMT2A-rearranged leukemia.