Publications by authors named "Amy Baker"

Influenza A viruses (IAV) of subtypes H1N1, H1N2, and H3N2 are endemic in US domestic swine populations and contribute to significant economic losses annually and pose a persistent pandemic threat. Adjuvanted, whole-inactivated virus (WIV) vaccines are the primary countermeasure to control IAV in swine. The compositions of these vaccines are matched for hemagglutinin (HA) strain and content, often ignoring the other IAV glycoprotein, the neuraminidase (NA).

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The rising demand for genetic counseling has prompted the implementation of various innovative service delivery models, such as patient webinars, videos, chatbots, and the integration of genetic testing into mainstream healthcare. To ensure patients receive adequate information for informed decision-making, validated measures to assess these models are essential but currently limited in the setting of inherited heart disease. We aimed to develop and initiate validation of a cardiac knowledge scale, as part of the Multidimensional Model of Informed Choice measure, to assess whether patients (probands and family members) with inherited cardiomyopathies, arrhythmias, and aortopathies are provided with sufficient knowledge to make informed decisions about genetic testing.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b was detected in the U.S. in 2021, affecting poultry and wild animals while leading to significant losses in dairy production across multiple states by 2024.
  • - A Texas dairy cow diagnosed with the virus showed symptoms like reduced feed intake, thick yellow milk, and decreased milk production, prompting investigations that identified more than 200 affected herds in 14 states.
  • - Experimental infection in Holstein heifers and lactating cows confirmed the disease's mild clinical effects in heifers and more pronounced symptoms in cows, providing important groundwork for understanding transmission and potential interventions for future outbreaks.
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Frequent interspecies transmission of human influenza A viruses (FLUAV) to pigs contrasts with the limited subset that establishes in swine. While hemagglutinin mutations are recognized for their role in cross-species transmission, the contribution of neuraminidase remains understudied. Here, the NA's role in FLUAV adaptation was investigated using a swine-adapted H3N2 reassortant virus with human-derived HA and NA segments.

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Influenza A virus (IAV) infection is initiated by hemagglutinin (HA), a glycoprotein exposed on the virion's lipid envelope that undergoes cleavage by host cell proteases to ensure membrane fusion, entry into the host cells, and completion of the viral cycle. Transmembrane protease serine S1 member 2 (TMPRSS2) is a host transmembrane protease expressed throughout the porcine airway epithelium and is purported to play a major role in the HA cleavage process, thereby influencing viral pathogenicity and tissue tropism. Pigs are natural hosts of IAV and IAV disease causes substantial economic impact on the pork industry worldwide.

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Type IV pili (TFP) contribute to the ability of microbes such as to engage with and move across surfaces. We reported previously that TFP generate retractive forces of ∼30 pN and provided indirect evidence that TFP-mediated surface attachment was enhanced in the presence of the Pel polysaccharide. Here, we use different mutants defective in flagellar, Pel production or TFP production - alone or in combination - to decipher the relative contribution of these biofilm-promoting factors for adhesion.

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H5 influenza is a potential pandemic threat. Previous studies have identified molecular phenotypes of the viral hemagglutinin (HA) protein that contribute to pandemic risk, including cell entry, receptor preference, HA stability, and reduced neutralization by polyclonal sera. Here we use pseudovirus deep mutational scanning to measure how all mutations to a clade 2.

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Introduction: The demand for occupational therapy services in Australia has experienced considerable growth in the last decade. Despite an increase in occupational therapy numbers, there remains a substantial workforce shortage. One reason for this shortage is difficulty with the retention of occupational therapists and subsequent workforce attrition.

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Article Synopsis
  • Inactivated influenza A virus (IAV) vaccines are used in sows to help reduce illness in suckling piglets, but there are still ongoing infections in farms.
  • A study involved collecting nasal swabs and oral fluid samples from 135 piglets across four farms, revealing a low detection rate of IAV in suckling piglets (1.64% in nasal swabs and 31.01% in oral fluids), with H1N2 being the most commonly detected strain.
  • Whole-genome sequencing showed that the predominant IAV in piglets had high similarity to the strain used in the farm's vaccine, indicating that while detection rates are low, IAV continues to be present despite vaccination efforts.
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Background: With growing emphasis on palliative care for neurodegenerative conditions, understanding trends in place of death helps improve quality of end-of-life care for people with Parkinson's disease and related disorders (PDRDs), focusing allocation of resources and training and identifying inequalities.

Objectives: Review national and regional place of death trends for people with PDRD including pre- and post-pandemic trends.

Methods: Mortality data for England and Wales (March 2018 and July 2022) were analysed with summary statistics and interrupted time series, exploring place of death for those who died with PDRD, with and without coexisting dementia, with reference to all deaths in England and Wales.

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  • Researchers performed a high-content screening in neuroblastoma cells to find cell cycle regulators affecting cell differentiation, discovering that knocking down CDKN3 induced significant neurite outgrowth and differentiation markers.
  • CDKN3 knockdown led to decreased proliferation markers and reduced colony formation in neuroblastoma cells, correlating high CDKN3 levels with poor patient survival in public datasets.
  • The study also revealed that differentiation molecules down-regulate CDKN3, while N-Myc promotes its expression, suggesting a complex regulatory network that plays a role in neuroblastoma progression.
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Unlabelled: Current influenza A vaccines fall short, leaving both humans and animals vulnerable. To address this issue, we have developed attenuated modified live virus (MLV) vaccines against influenza using genome rearrangement techniques targeting the internal gene segments of FLUAV. The rearranged M2 (RAM) strategy involves cloning the M2 ORF downstream of the PB1 ORF in segment 2 and incorporating multiple early stop codons within the M2 ORF in segment 7.

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Introduction: UniSA's Invictus Pathways Program (IPP), a service program, was originally developed to assist veterans to train for and participate in the Invictus Games. More recently, the scope of the IPP has widened to support and improve wellbeing and facilitate post traumatic growth and recovery among participants who are living with physical and mental health injuries and conditions. This paper describes the components of the IPP and reports its process evaluation.

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Planetary protection at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) requires bioburden on certain spacecraft to be estimated via sampling in order to comply with biological cleanliness requirements. To achieve this, the recovery efficiency of devices used to sample the spacecraft pre-launch must be understood and their uncertainty quantified in order to produce the most reasonable estimates of bioburden. This study brings together experiments performed by NASA and the European Space Agency with approved swab and wipe sampling devices, inoculating steel coupons with laboratory strains of spp.

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We examined TikTok user engagement when parents post videos engaging in psychological maltreatment (PM) behaviors towards their children, using the APSAC-endorsed definition of PM. A new TikTok account was created and seeded with PM behavior videos identified previously; similar videos then appeared on the new account's "For You Page" (an algorithmic feed curated by TikTok). Researchers identified 35 creators who had posted at least one PM behavior video, resulting in their full profile being coded ( = 2684 videos) for five engagement metrics, presence of children, and presence of PM behavior.

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Introduction: UniSA's Invictus Pathways Program (IPP) is motivated by the spirit of the Invictus Games to mobilise the benefits of sport to aid physical, psychological, and social wellbeing. Originally developed to assist veterans to train for and participate in the Invictus Games, the program has extended its scope to promote recovery and wellbeing for all veterans through physical activity. This paper describes the expectations and experiences of the IPP from the perspective of program participants.

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Pneumorrhachis is defined by the presence of air within the spinal cord. Spontaneous pneumorrhachis secondary to exacerbation of asthma is rare, and its management is rarely discussed. We present a case of spontaneous pneumorrhachis in the context of a viral exacerbation of asthma, followed by a systematic literature review of all available cases of pneumorrhachis in asthma exacerbation.

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  • Researchers studied how the H1N1 virus, originally from humans, spread to pigs in Brazil from 2009 to 2022.
  • They found that between 2009 and 2011, the virus quickly passed from people to pigs, but it mostly caused short infections that didn’t spread much after that.
  • Since 2012, there have been fewer cases of the virus moving from humans to pigs, and the virus has changed over time, making it coexist with pigs better.
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Objective: This study attempted to test the effectiveness of an enhanced analysis of the 20-30 ms complex of somatosensory evoked potentials, in predicting the short-term outcome of comatose survivors of out of hospital cardiac arrest and compare it with the current clinical practice.

Methods: Single-centre, prospective, observational study. Median nerve SSEP recording performed at 24-36 h post-return of spontaneous circulation.

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Background: Regional variations in healthcare outcomes in England have been historically reported. This study analyses the variations in long term colorectal cancer survival across different regions in England.

Methods: Relative survival analysis of population data obtained from all cancer registries in England between 2010 and 2014.

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Particulate organic carbon settling through the marine water column is a key process that regulates the global climate by sequestering atmospheric carbon. The initial colonization of marine particles by heterotrophic bacteria represents the first step in recycling this carbon back to inorganic constituents-setting the magnitude of vertical carbon transport to the abyss. Here, we demonstrate experimentally using millifluidic devices that, although bacterial motility is essential for effective colonization of a particle leaking organic nutrients into the water column, chemotaxis specifically benefits at intermediate and higher settling velocities to navigate the particle boundary layer during the brief window of opportunity provided by a passing particle.

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While teletherapy is not a new phenomenon, most clinicians have not been trained and do not routinely practice it. The current study was designed to ascertain challenges and opportunities presented by the widescale usage of teletherapy especially for traumatized children, which was necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Two hundred and fifty clinicians across the United States providing teletherapy to traumatized children completed an online survey.

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