Publications by authors named "Ervin J"

This study aimed to investigate the effect of precarious employment (PE) on the mental health of Australians. Building on previous research, we conceptualised PE as a multidimensional construct, accounted for gender differences in the associations, and our modelling strategy addressed the possibility of reverse causality bias. Data was pooled panel data from 15 waves (2005-2019) of the HILDA survey (n = 14,237).

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Structurally intact native forests free from major human pressures are vitally important habitats for the persistence of forest biodiversity. However, the extent of such high-integrity forest habitats remaining for biodiversity is unknown. Here, we quantify the amount of high-integrity tropical rainforests, as a fraction of total forest cover, within the geographic ranges of 16,396 species of terrestrial vertebrates worldwide.

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Article Synopsis
  • Next-generation COVID-19 vaccines aim to improve coverage against existing and future variants while extending protection duration; the Prime-2-CoV_Beta vaccine uses an ORF virus platform to present multiple antigens.
  • A phase 1 trial (ORFEUS study) tested the safety and immune response of Prime-2-CoV_Beta in participants aged 18-55 and 65-85 who previously received mRNA vaccines, with doses administered on day 1 and day 29.
  • Results showed that Prime-2-CoV_Beta is safe, well tolerated, and generates strong immune responses, especially in younger participants, suggesting the ORFV platform's potential for future vaccine development.
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Background: Respectful maternity care includes shared decision-making (SDM). However, research on SDM is lacking from the intrapartum period and instruments to measure it have only recently been developed. TeamBirth is a quality improvement initiative that uses team huddles to improve SDM during labor and birth.

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Background: The recently approved AS01E-adjuvanted respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) prefusion F protein-based vaccine for older adults (RSVPreF3 OA) demonstrated high efficacy against RSV-related disease in ≥60-year-olds.

Methods: This ongoing phase 3 study in ≥60-year-olds evaluates immune persistence until 3 years after RSVPreF3 OA vaccination. Here, we describe interim results on humoral and cell-mediated immunogenicity, reactogenicity, and safety until 1 year post-dose 1.

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Pollution in urban environments is a major health concern for humans as well as the local wildlife and aquatic species. Anthropogenic waste and discharge from storm drainage accumulate nutrients and environmental contaminants in local water systems. Locating contaminated sites using water samples over the vast landscape is a daunting task.

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Precarious and insecure employment arrangements are important social determinants of health. Prior evidence has consistently found perceived job insecurity to be associated with poorer mental health. Nonetheless, several key under-researched areas remain in the existing evidence base.

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The COVID-19 pandemic imposed additional and specific challenges on the lives and wellbeing of informal unpaid carers. Addressing an important gap in the existing literature, this systematic review (prospectively registered with PROSPERO CRD42022376012) synthesises and evaluates the quantitative evidence examining the association between unpaid caregiving and mental health (compared to non-caring), during the pandemic. Five databases were searched (Medline, PsycInfo, EMBASE, Scopus, Web of Science) from Jan 1, 2020, to March 1, 2023.

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Unemployment and precarious employment (PE) are routinely found to be associated with poorer mental health. Importantly, women are over-represented in PE (due to disproportionate unpaid care demands), yet a gender lens has been lacking in much of the extant literature. This study addresses several gaps by reconsidering how PE can be conceptualised from a gender perspective and examining the impact of differing levels of multidimensional PE on the mental health of working-age Australians.

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SARS-CoV-2 wastewater surveillance (WWS) at wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) can reveal sewered community COVID-19 prevalence. For unsewered areas using septic tank systems (STSs) or holding tanks, how to conduct WWS remains unexplored. Here, two large STSs serving Zuma Beach (Malibu, CA) were studied.

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During implantation, trophoblast cell invasion and differentiation is predominantly important to achieving proper placental formation and embryonic development. The chemokine, C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 12 (CXCL12) working through its receptor C-X-C motif chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) is implicated in implantation and placentation but precise roles of this axis are unclear. Suppressing CXCL12/CXCR4 signaling at the fetal-maternal interface in sheep reduces trophoblast invasion, disrupts uterine remodeling, and diminishes placental vascularization.

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Municipal separate storm sewer systems (MS4s) function in urbanized areas to convey flows during both wet weather (i.e., stormwater) and dry weather (i.

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Background: Pick's disease (PiD) is a rare and predominantly sporadic form of frontotemporal dementia that is classified as a primary tauopathy. PiD is pathologically defined by argyrophilic inclusion Pick bodies and ballooned neurons in the frontal and temporal brain lobes. PiD is characterised by the presence of Pick bodies which are formed from aggregated, hyperphosphorylated, 3-repeat tau proteins, encoded by the gene.

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Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection remains a significant global burden, especially for patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) receiving hemodialysis. Three doses of HepB-CpG (HEPLISAV-B® vaccine) induced a superior immune response compared with 4 double doses of HepB-Eng (Engerix-B®) in a phase 3 trial (HBV-17) in adults with CKD. Here we report the long-term immunogenicity and safety of HepB-CpG and HepB-Eng in eligible participants of HBV-17 who enrolled in this optional 34-month follow-up trial (HBV-19).

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Background: Translating empirical evidence into clinical practice remains challenging. Prevention of morbidity from new ileostomies may serve as an example. Despite evidence demonstrating improvements in electrolyte levels, kidney function markers, and hospital readmissions, widespread adoption of oral rehydration solutions among patients with new ileostomies has not occurred.

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Background: Unpaid labour is a daily part of most people's lives, none more so than for women. Yet, in comparison to paid work, the effect of unpaid labour on mental health is an under-researched area. This study aims to address key gaps in the extant literature, examining how unpaid labour is associated with mental health in working-age men and women, and whether gender differences exist.

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Background: Yellow fever (YF) vaccination is often mandatory for travelers to YF-endemic areas. The areas with risk of YF partially overlap with those of dengue, for which there is currently no recommended vaccine available for dengue-naïve individuals. This phase 3 study assessed the immunogenicity and safety of concomitant and sequential administration of YF (YF-17D) and tetravalent dengue (TAK-003) vaccines in healthy adults aged 18-60 years living in areas of the US non-endemic for either virus.

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Exposure to chronic stress increases the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Providing informal care is known to be a stressful activity, but it is not clear whether informal caregiving is associated with CVD risk. This systematic review aimed to summarise and assess the quantitative evidence examining the association between providing informal care to others and CVD incidence in comparison with non-carers.

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Gender and sexually diverse populations remain understudied and under-represented in research. This is attributable not only to significant and ongoing data collection limitations, where large population-based studies fail to ask adequate questions around gender and sexuality, but also due to continuously evolving terminology in this space. This glossary takes a preliminary step in rectifying these issues by defining and clarifying the application and understanding of key terms related to gender, gender identity, expression and sexuality.

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Background: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) can cause serious lower respiratory tract disease in older adults, but no licensed RSV vaccine currently exists. An adenovirus serotype 26 RSV vector encoding a prefusion F (preF) protein (Ad26.RSV.

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Aging causes functional decline and degeneration of neurons and is a major risk factor of neurodegenerative diseases. To investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying neuronal aging, we developed a new pipeline for neuronal proteomic profiling in young and aged animals. While the overall translational machinery is down-regulated, certain proteins increase expressions upon aging.

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Background: Evidence-based practices (EBPs) for patients receiving invasive mechanical ventilation vary in the quality of their underlying evidence and ease of implementation.

Research Question: How do researchers and clinicians prioritize EBPs to help guide clinical decision-making and focus implementation efforts to improve patient care using existing, validated measures?

Study Design And Methods: We developed a 4-step rapid method using existing criteria to prioritize EBPs associated with lower mortality and/or shorter duration of invasive mechanical ventilation for patients suffering from acute respiratory failure or acute respiratory distress syndrome. Using different types of data including surveys, we (1) identified relevant EBPs, (2) rated EBPs using the Guideline Implementability Appraisal (GLIA) tool, (3) surveyed practicing ICU clinicians from different hospital systems using a subset of GLIA criteria, and (4) developed metrics to assess EBP performance.

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Background: Informal unpaid caregivers provide most of the world's care needs, experiencing numerous health and wealth penalties as a result. As the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted, informal care is highly gendered. Longitudinal evidence is needed to assess the causal effect of caregiving on mental health.

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