Cell-Based Assays to Detect Innate Immune Response Modulating Impurities: Application to Biosimilar Insulin.

Characterizing and mitigating factors that impact product immunogenicity can aid in risk assessment and/or managing risk following manufacturing changes. For follow-on products that have the same indication, patient population, and active product ingredient, the residual immunogenicity risk resides predominantly on differences in product and process related impurities. Characterizing differences in innate immune modulating impurities (IIRMI), which could act as adjuvants by activating local antigen presenting cells (APCs), can inform the immunogenicity risk assessment potentially reducing the need for clinical trials.

Downregulation of IRF7-mediated type-I interferon response by LmCen parasites is necessary for protective immunity.

Leishmaniasis is a tropical disease caused by Leishmania parasites and currently has no licensed vaccines. We developed a dermotropic Leishmania major centrin gene-deleted strain (LmCen) as a live attenuated vaccine. Recent studies have shown that type I interferons (IFNs) play important roles in immunity to parasitic and viral pathogens.

The risk tolerance and decision-making processes of Australian women regarding medication trials in pregnancy.

Background: Pregnant women have historically been excluded from participation in medication trials, in part due to the perceived risks of drug exposure to mothers and fetuses. However, little is known about pregnant women's attitudes toward risk and participation in such trials.

Aims: To address this knowledge gap and to identify factors that influence trial participation.

Conversations in Content and Context: Can We Teach AI to Chat About Drawings?

An innovative chatbot incorporates a drawing tool allowing users to draw pictures that symbolise the nature of their chronic pain. Rather than simply ask 'What did you draw?" what if the chatbot could engage the user to provide insight into symbols and images related to pain and suffering? The system was tested on images that included features of clinical interest in a first step toward a chatbot able to 'see' and discuss visual input. Such a chatbot has the potential for retrospective and prospective applications.

Tabula Rasa: A Case Study in Chronic Pain Management Using Individual-Centric AI.

There are numerous behavioural, social and environmental factors that influence the symptomatology of a chronic health condition. These factors and how they manifest are often very specific to the individual, which creates challenges for applying macro population health approaches and insights to guide treatment. An artificial intelligence system, referred to as a non-axiomatic reasoning system (NARS), is presented.

An estimate of the longitudinal pace of aging from a single brain scan predicts dementia conversion, morbidity, and mortality.

To understand how aging affects functional decline and increases disease risk, it is necessary to develop accurate and reliable measures of how fast a person is aging. Epigenetic clocks measure aging but require DNA methylation data, which many studies lack. Using data from the Dunedin Study, we introduce an accurate and reliable measure for the rate of longitudinal aging derived from cross-sectional brain MRI: the Dunedin Pace of Aging Calculated from NeuroImaging or DunedinPACNI.

Identifying motivational interviewing techniques in Quitline smoking cessation counselling sessions from Queensland, Australia.

Motivational interviewing (MI) is a common approach for smoking cessation counselling, yet little is known about the use of MI techniques in practice. This qualitative content analysis applied a published classification of content and relational MI techniques to a sample of 30 Quitline transcripts (January-March 2019) from Queensland, Australia. Overall, 36 MI techniques (94.

Co-Designing a Smoking Cessation Chatbot: Focus Group Study of End Users and Smoking Cessation Professionals.

Background: Our prototype smoking cessation chatbot, Quin, provides evidence-based, personalized support delivered via a smartphone app to help people quit smoking. We developed Quin using a multiphase program of co-design research, part of which included focus group evaluation of Quin among stakeholders prior to clinical testing.

Objective: This study aimed to gather and compare feedback on the user experience of the Quin prototype from end users and smoking cessation professionals (SCPs) via a beta testing process to inform ongoing chatbot iterations and refinements.

Exploring associations of population characteristics and tobacco and vape retailer density and proximity in Australia: a scoping review.

Objective: This scoping review synthesises Australian evidence on associations between tobacco and vape retailer density/proximity and various population measures and smoking behaviour to identify research gaps and inform future policy and strategies.

Data Sources: Following Joanna Briggs Institute methodology, relevant studies published in English since 2003 were identified via searches of eight databases in March and August 2023.

Study Selection: Two reviewers independently completed screening procedures.

Childhood blood-lead level predicts lower general, non-selective hippocampal subfield volumes in midlife.

Millions of adults and children are exposed to high levels of lead, a neurotoxicant, each year. Recent evidence suggests that lead exposure may precipitate neurodegeneration, particularly if the exposure occurs early or late in life, with unique alterations to the structure or function of specific subfields of the hippocampus, a region involved in memory and Alzheimer's disease. It has been proposed that specific hippocampal subfields may thus be useful biomarkers for lead-associated neurological disease.

Maternal Reports of Preterm and Sick Term Infants' Settling, Sleeping and Feeding in the 9 Months after Discharge from Neonatal Nursery: An Observational Study.

The effects of preterm birth, neonatal morbidities and environmental influences on infant sleep development is an important yet under-researched topic, with little known about normative sleep for infants born sick or preterm. The aim of this prospective, observational longitudinal study was to evaluate maternal perceptions and degree of bother with infant sleep behaviours and feeding outcomes across the first 9 months after discharge for sick/preterm infants cared for in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and for healthy term-born infants. This paper reports outcomes for the sick/preterm cohort ( = 94) that were recruited from two NICUs in Perth, Western Australia.

Ebola virus-induced eye sequelae: a murine model for evaluating glycoprotein-targeting therapeutics.

Background: Ebola virus disease (EVD) survivors experience ocular sequelae including retinal lesions, cataracts, and vision loss. While monoclonal antibodies targeting the Ebola virus glycoprotein (EBOV-GP) have shown promise in improving prognosis, their effectiveness in mitigating ocular sequelae remains uncertain.

Methods: We developed and characterized a BSL-2-compatible immunocompetent mouse model to evaluate therapeutics targeting EBOV-GP by inoculating neonatal mice with vesicular stomatitis virus expressing EBOV-GP (VSV-EBOV).

Improving Predictability, Reliability and Generalisability of Brain-Wide Associations for Cognitive Abilities via Multimodal Stacking.

Brain-wide association studies (BWASs) have attempted to relate cognitive abilities with brain phenotypes, but have been challenged by issues such as predictability, test-retest reliability, and cross-cohort generalisability. To tackle these challenges, we proposed a machine-learning "stacking" approach that draws information from whole-brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) across different modalities, from task-fMRI contrasts and functional connectivity during tasks and rest to structural measures, into one prediction model. We benchmarked the benefits of stacking, using the Human Connectome Projects: Young Adults (n=873, 22-35 years old) and Human Connectome Projects-Aging (n=504, 35-100 years old) and the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study (Dunedin Study, n=754, 45 years old).

Dementia, dementia's risk factors and premorbid brain structure are concentrated in disadvantaged areas: National register and birth-cohort geographic analyses.

Introduction: Dementia risk may be elevated in socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods. Reasons for this remain unclear, and this elevation has yet to be shown at a national population level.

Methods: We tested whether dementia was more prevalent in disadvantaged neighborhoods across the New Zealand population (N = 1.

A blood biomarker of the pace of aging is associated with brain structure: replication across three cohorts.

Biological aging is the correlated decline of multi-organ system integrity central to the etiology of many age-related diseases. A novel epigenetic measure of biological aging, DunedinPACE, is associated with cognitive dysfunction, incident dementia, and mortality. Here, we tested for associations between DunedinPACE and structural MRI phenotypes in three datasets spanning midlife to advanced age: the Dunedin Study (age=45 years), the Framingham Heart Study Offspring Cohort (mean age=63 years), and the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (mean age=75 years).

Dolores: A Mobile Chatbot for People Living with Chronic Pain.

We provide an outline of the Dolores chatbot designed to gather data and provide information to people living with chronic pain. Dolores is equipped with selective language levels to provide language appropriate responses for all ages. A recent pilot study (N = 60) of adolescents, young-adults and adults was completed and the frequented topics that were accessed are summarised here.

A New Role for Chatbots: Automation of a Sleep-Dependent Memory Task.

Sleep is known to contribute to memory consolidation. Sleep-dependent memory is not often studied in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), however, due to the need to attend sleep laboratories which are typically expensive, time-consuming and lacking in trained task administrators. We developed a conversation agent able to deliver a sleep-dependent memory task at home.

Introducing Quin: The Design and Development of a Prototype Chatbot to Support Smoking Cessation.

Introduction: Chatbots emulate human-like interactions and may usefully provide on-demand access to tailored smoking cessation support. We have developed a prototype smartphone application-based smoking cessation chatbot, named Quin, grounded in real-world, evidence-, and theory-based smoking cessation counseling sessions.

Methods: Conversation topics and interactions in Quitline counseling sessions (N = 30; 18 h) were characterized using thematic, content, and proponent analyses of transcripts.

Conversational artificial intelligence interventions to support smoking cessation: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Conversational artificial intelligence (chatbots and dialogue systems) is an emerging tool for tobacco cessation that has the potential to emulate personalised human support and increase engagement. We aimed to determine the effect of conversational artificial intelligence interventions with or without standard tobacco cessation interventions on tobacco cessation outcomes among adults who smoke, compared to no intervention, placebo intervention or an active comparator.

Methods: A comprehensive search of six databases was completed in June 2022.

Test-retest reliability and predictive utility of a macroscale principal functional connectivity gradient.

Mapping individual differences in brain function has been hampered by poor reliability as well as limited interpretability. Leveraging patterns of brain-wide functional connectivity (FC) offers some promise in this endeavor. In particular, a macroscale principal FC gradient that recapitulates a hierarchical organization spanning molecular, cellular, and circuit level features along a sensory-to-association cortical axis has emerged as both a parsimonious and interpretable measure of individual differences in behavior.

Smoking Cessation Counseling in Practice: A Qualitative Analysis of Quitline Conversations in Queensland, Australia.

Telephone-based services are a practical and effective behavioral support for smoking cessation, yet no in-depth analyses of this counseling have been conducted. Understanding the general content of Quitline conversations can help to improve current practices and may inform future interventions. Therefore, we aimed to independently explore conversation themes, topics, and client questions during Quitline counseling sessions with Quitline clients in Queensland, Australia.

Acceptability of a Pain History Assessment and Education Chatbot (Dolores) Across Age Groups in Populations With Chronic Pain: Development and Pilot Testing.

Background: The delivery of education on pain neuroscience and the evidence for different treatment approaches has become a key component of contemporary persistent pain management. Chatbots, or more formally conversation agents, are increasingly being used in health care settings due to their versatility in providing interactive and individualized approaches to both capture and deliver information. Research focused on the acceptability of diverse chatbot formats can assist in developing a better understanding of the educational needs of target populations.

A blood biomarker of accelerated aging in the body associates with worse structural integrity in the brain: replication across three cohorts.

Biological aging is the correlated decline of multi-organ system integrity central to the etiology of many age-related diseases. A novel epigenetic measure of biological aging, DunedinPACE, is associated with cognitive dysfunction, incident dementia, and mortality. Here, we tested for associations between DunedinPACE and structural MRI phenotypes in three datasets spanning midlife to advanced age: the Dunedin Study (age=45 years), the Framingham Heart Study Offspring Cohort (mean age=63 years), and the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (mean age=75 years).