Habitat transitions have shaped the evolutionary trajectory of many clades. Sea catfishes (Ariidae) have repeatedly undergone ecological transitions, including colonizing freshwaters from marine environments, leading to an adaptive radiation in Australia and New Guinea alongside non-radiating freshwater lineages elsewhere. Here, we generate and analyze one long-read reference genome and 66 short-read whole genome assemblies, in conjunction with genomic data for 54 additional species.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe present a genome assembly from an individual female (Chordata; Mammalia; Chiroptera; Molossidae). The genome sequence is 2.490 Gb in span.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe present a reference genome assembly from an individual male (Chordata; Mammalia; Chiroptera; Emballonuridae). The genome sequence is 2.46 Gb in span.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVirtual learning resources such as podcasts and social media are increasingly used in medical education. Podcasts are one example of virtual learning, where prerecorded audio files are available to stream or download from the internet, usually without a fee and at any time. This gives listeners flexibility in when and where they engage with the educational material, enabling learning to be better tailored to individual needs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnimals living in caves are of broad relevance to evolutionary biologists interested in understanding the mechanisms underpinning convergent evolution. In the Eastern Andes of Colombia, populations from at least two distinct clades of Trichomycterus catfishes (Siluriformes) independently colonized cave environments and converged in phenotype by losing their eyes and pigmentation. We are pursuing several research questions using genomics to understand the evolutionary forces and molecular mechanisms responsible for repeated morphological changes in this system.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe present a genome assembly from an individual male (Chordata; Mammalia; Chiroptera; Molossidae). The genome sequence is 2.41 gigabases in span.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImprovements in genome sequencing and assembly are enabling high-quality reference genomes for all species. However, the assembly process is still laborious, computationally and technically demanding, lacks standards for reproducibility, and is not readily scalable. Here we present the latest Vertebrate Genomes Project assembly pipeline and demonstrate that it delivers high-quality reference genomes at scale across a set of vertebrate species arising over the last ~500 million years.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Technol Assess Health Care
July 2023
Objectives: Early access schemes (EASs) are approaches used by payers to balance and facilitate earlier patient access to innovative health technologies while evidence generation is ongoing. Schemes require investment from payers and are associated with significant risk since not all technologies will be routinely reimbursed. The purpose of this study was to gain the perspectives of policy experts about the key challenges for EASs and potential solutions for their optimal design and implementation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe advancement of 3D printing has led to its widespread use. NinjaFlex, a thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) filament, is a highly durable and flexible material that has been used to create flexible parts. While this material has been available for nearly two decades, the mechanical properties of 3D printed NinjaFlex parts are not well-understood, especially in bending.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Decentralized health systems in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) affected by humanitarian crises lack resources and a qualified workforce to attend to the overwhelming demand for mental health care in emergencies. Innovative approaches that are safe, cost-effective, and scalable are needed to address the burden of traumatic stress caused by emergencies. High mobile phone ownership rates combined with the precision of neural, cognitive, and biometric measures of trauma and their feasible integration with artificial intelligence makes digital app interventions a promising pathway to promote precision diagnosis and high-impact care.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPosttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in military veterans increases the risk of PTSD in their offspring, a concept known as "intergenerational transmission;" however, the mechanism by which this transmission may occur is, as yet, undetermined. The present study included a nonclinical sample of 197 Australian Army veterans of the Vietnam War who were interviewed 17 years before in-person interviews of their adult daughters (n = 163) and sons (n = 120) were conducted. Veterans' PTSD symptoms were assessed using the Mississippi Scale for Combat-Related PTSD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe mechanisms of intergenerational transmission of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from parent to child are not yet known. We hypothesised that the mechanisms involved in trauma transmission may be dependent upon sex specific caregiver-child dyads and these dyads may have a differential impact on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A non-clinical sample of adult offspring (N = 306) of Australian Vietnam veterans was interviewed in-person to assess the relationship between family emotional climate and caregiver attachment with the offspring's adult experience of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe present study examined the course of diagnosed alcohol use disorders (AUDs) in a cohort of Australian veterans of the Vietnam War (N = 388) who were assessed 22 and 36 years after returning home. Standardized interviews provided data on AUDs, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), other psychiatric diagnoses, and combat exposure. Overall, 148 veterans (38.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA non-clinical sample of male Australian Vietnam veterans, their wives, and adult offspring were interviewed in-person in a national epidemiological study to assess the relationship between the mental ill-health of veterans and the emotional climate of the family while the children were growing up. Veterans were assessed 17 years before their children using standardised psychiatric diagnostic interviews. Family emotional climate was assessed using offspring ratings of parental attachment, and codings of positive and negative family relationship styles based on five minute speech samples provided by the offspring.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: War service increases the risk of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to combatants, and has been shown to increase the risk of PTSD in their offspring. The extent to which there is an excess compared with the general population is not yet established, nor whether PTSD increases the risk of other psychiatric problems.
Methods: A national sample of 133 sons and 182 daughters of a cohort of 179 Australian Vietnam veterans' families were assessed in person, using structured psychiatric interviews.
Background: Whether trauma exposure itself or consequent posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is primarily responsible for smoking and failure to quit remains unclear.
Methods: A cohort of male Australian Vietnam veterans (N = 388) was interviewed twice, 22 and 36 years after their return to Australia using standardized psychiatric diagnostic and health interviews and assessment of combat exposure. The smoking trajectory over time revealed a spectrum of outcomes (never smoked, early quitters, late quitters, and continuing smokers).
Aust N Z J Psychiatry
May 2017
Objective: In response to evidence of deteriorating outcomes of people with schizophrenia we recently published a critical review in the journal concerning why outcomes for schizophrenia are not improving. A published commentary on our review raised criticisms that we aim to address herein.
Method: Published data related to four issues raised in the commentary were reviewed.
Australian male Vietnam veterans (N = 388) were assessed 22 and 36 years after their return to Australia using standardized diagnostic interviews, with added data from Army records and self-report questionnaires. Among veterans who ever had posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), 50.3% had a current diagnosis at the second assessment; of those who had a current diagnosis at Wave 1, 46.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To assess the association between parental post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and offspring PTSD and its specificity for other disorders in a non-clinical epidemiological cohort of Australian Vietnam veterans, their partners and their sons and daughters.
Method: Veterans were interviewed twice, in 1992-1994 and 2005-2006; partners were interviewed in 2006-2007, and their offspring in 2012-2014. A total of 125 sons and 168 daughters were interviewed from 197 families, 137 of which also included partners who were the mothers of the children.
Aust N Z J Psychiatry
December 2016