Early-life protein-bound skin ceramides help predict the development of atopic dermatitis.

Background: Skin lipids are crucial components of the skin barrier. Individuals with atopic dermatitis (AD or eczema) have a different skin lipid profile from those without. However, whether altered skin lipids precede and predict the subsequent risk of AD remained unclear, especially for different AD phenotypes.

Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of models of maternity care for women from migrant and refugee backgrounds in high-income countries: A systematic review.

Background: Different models of care may be appropriate for various groups of women during their perinatal period, depending on their risk level, location, and accessibility of healthcare practitioners and facilities. Evaluating these models' effectiveness and cost-effectiveness is critical to allocating resources and offering sustained care to women from refugee backgrounds. This systematic review aimed to synthesize evidence on the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of maternity care models among women from migrant and refugee backgrounds living in high-income countries.

Uncovering co-regulatory modules and gene regulatory networks in the heart through machine learning-based analysis of large-scale epigenomic data.

The availability of large-scale epigenomic data from various cell types and conditions has yielded valuable insights for evaluating and learning features predicting the co-binding of transcription factors (TF). However, prior attempts to develop models predicting motif co-occurrence lacked scalability for globally analyzing any motif combination or making cross-species predictions. Moreover, mapping co-regulatory modules (CRM) to gene regulatory networks (GRN) is crucial for understanding underlying function.

Multi-site validation of a functional assay to adjudicate Brugada Syndrome-associated variants.

Brugada Syndrome (BrS) is an inheritable arrhythmia condition that is associated with rare, loss-of-function variants in the cardiac sodium channel gene, . Interpreting the pathogenicity of missense variants is challenging and ~79% of missense variants in ClinVar are currently classified as Variants of Uncertain Significance (VUS). An -BrS automated patch clamp assay was generated for high-throughput functional studies of Na1.

International Survey of the Management of Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation Among Pediatric and Neonatal Health Care Practitioners.

The International Society of Thrombosis and Hemostasis (ISTH) provides objective disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) measurement through diagnostic criteria validated in adults. The applicability of these criteria in pediatric and neonatal DIC is controversial and unvalidated. Primary objective: to evaluate current practice in pediatric and neonatal DIC management among different specialties.

Management of tuberculosis infection in Victorian children: A retrospective clinical audit of factors affecting treatment completion.

Background: Tuberculosis preventive treatment (TPT) is strongly recommended for children following infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis because of their high risk of progression to active tuberculosis, including severe disseminated disease. We describe the implementation of TPT for children and adolescents with evidence of tuberculosis infection (TBI) at Victoria's largest children's hospital and examine factors affecting treatment completion.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective clinical audit of all children and adolescents aged <18 years diagnosed with latent TBI at the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, between 2010 and 2016 inclusive.

A Global Longitudinal Study Examining Social Restrictions Severity on Loneliness, Social Anxiety, and Depression.

Purpose: Social restrictions and government-mandated lockdowns implemented worldwide to kerb the SARS-CoV-2 virus disrupted our social interactions, behaviours, and routines. While many studies have examined how the pandemic influenced loneliness and poor mental health, such as depression, almost none have focussed on social anxiety. Further, how the change in social restrictions affected change in mental-health and well-being has not yet been explored.

Sentiments expressed in YouTube public awareness campaigns: stroke.

Social media (YouTube) has been used to educate the public on stroke signs and the need to contact emergency hotline. We perform sentiment analysis to explore the emotional response to the 2006 North American and contrast this with the five Australian campaigns (2009-2015). The positive sentiment in the North American campaign provides insights for developing material for public health campaigns.

Is PM similar to PM? A new insight into the association of PM and PM with children's lung function.

Experimental data suggests that PM is more toxic than PM although the epidemiologic evidence suggests that the health associations are similar. However, few objective exposure data are available to compare the associations of PM and PM with children lung function. Our objectives are a) to evaluate associations between long-term exposure to PM, PM and children's lung function, and b) to compare the associations between PM and PM.

Estimating the relative frequency of leukodystrophies and recommendations for carrier screening in the era of next-generation sequencing.

Leukodystrophies are a heterogeneous group of heritable disorders characterized by abnormal brain white matter signal on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and primary involvement of the cellular components of myelin. Previous estimates suggest the incidence of leukodystrophies as a whole to be 1 in 7,000 individuals, however the frequency of specific diagnoses relative to others has not been described. Next generation sequencing approaches offer the opportunity to redefine our understanding of the relative frequency of different leukodystrophies.

Association Between Greenness Surrounding Schools and Kindergartens and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Children in China.

Importance: Few studies have investigated the association between greenness and childhood attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Objective: To evaluate the association between greenness surrounding schools or kindergartens and symptoms of ADHD in children.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This population-based cross-sectional study was performed between April 2012 and January 2013 in 7 cities in northeastern China.

Association between residential greenness and metabolic syndrome in Chinese adults.

Background: Residing in greener areas has several health benefits, but no study to date has examined the effects of greenness on metabolic syndrome (MetS). We aimed to assess associations between residential greenness and MetS prevalence in China, and to explore whether air pollution and physical activity mediated any observed associations.

Methods: We analyzed data from 15,477 adults who participated in the 33 Communities Chinese Health Study during 2009.

Greenness around schools associated with lower risk of hypertension among children: Findings from the Seven Northeastern Cities Study in China.

Evidence suggests that residential greenness may be protective of high blood pressure, but there is scarcity of evidence on the associations between greenness around schools and blood pressure among children. We aimed to investigate this association in China. Our study included 9354 children from 62 schools in the Seven Northeastern Cities Study.

Googling Location for Operating Base of Mobile Stroke Unit in Metropolitan Sydney.

The recent advances in stroke therapy have placed focus on delivering care within the first hour after stroke onset (golden hour), principally through the use of Mobile Stroke Unit (MSU) to bring the hospital to the patient. The aim of this project is to search the location of MSU hub in Sydney, Australia, optimizing for catchment, transport to nearest thrombolysis and endovascular clot retrieval (ECR)/thrombectomy capable hospital and population at risk. Traveling time was performed using package in R to interface with Google Maps application program interface (API).

Googling Service Boundaries for Endovascular Clot Retrieval (ECR) Hub Hospitals in Metropolitan Sydney.

Endovascular clot retrieval (ECR) has revolutionized acute stroke therapy but is expensive to run and staff with accredited interventional neuroradiologists 24/7; consequently, it is only feasible for each metropolitan city to have a minimum number of hubs that is adequate to service the population. This method is applied to search the minimum number of hospitals to be designated as ECR hubs in Sydney as well as the population at risk of stroke reachable within 30 min. Traveling time from the centroids of each suburbs to five ECR capable hubs [Royal Prince Alfred/RPA, Prince of Wales/POW, Royal North Shore/RNS, Liverpool/LH and Westmead/WH].

Residential greenness and blood lipids in urban-dwelling adults: The 33 Communities Chinese Health Study.

While exposure to places with higher greenness shows health benefits, evidence is scarce on its lipidemic effects. We assessed the associations between residential greenness and blood lipids and effect mediations by air pollution, physical activity, and adiposity in China. Our study included 15,477 adults from the population-based 33 Communities Chinese Health Study, conducted between April and December 2009, in Northeastern China.

Machine Learning SNP Based Prediction for Precision Medicine.

In the past decade, precision genomics based medicine has emerged to provide tailored and effective healthcare for patients depending upon their genetic features. Genome Wide Association Studies have also identified population based risk genetic variants for common and complex diseases. In order to meet the full promise of precision medicine, research is attempting to leverage our increasing genomic understanding and further develop personalized medical healthcare through ever more accurate disease risk prediction models.

Community greenness, blood pressure, and hypertension in urban dwellers: The 33 Communities Chinese Health Study.

Background: Living in greener areas has many health benefits, but evidence concerning the effects on blood pressure remains mixed. We sought to assess associations between community greenness and both blood pressure and hypertension in Chinese urban dwellers, and whether the associations were mediated by air pollution, body mass index, and physical activity.

Methods: We analyzed data from 24,845 adults participating in the 33 Communities Chinese Health Study, which was conducted in Northeastern China during 2009.

Association of Long-term Exposure to Ambient Air Pollutants With Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Disease in China.

Importance: Which cardiometabolic risk factors (eg, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, overweight or obesity, and dyslipidemia) are more sensitive to long-term exposure to ambient air pollution and whether participants with these conditions are more susceptible to the cardiovascular effects of air pollution remain unclear.

Objectives: To evaluate the associations among long-term exposure to air pollutants, cardiometabolic risk factors, and cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevalence.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This population-based cross-sectional study was conducted from April 1 through December 31, 2009, in 3 cities in Northeastern China.

Associations of greenness with diabetes mellitus and glucose-homeostasis markers: The 33 Communities Chinese Health Study.

Background: Residing in greener places may be protective against diabetes mellitus (DM) but evidence is scarce and comes mainly from developed countries.

Objectives: To investigate associations of residential greenness with DM prevalence and glucose-homeostasis markers in Chinese adults and whether these associations were mediated by air pollution, physical activity, and body mass index.

Methods: In 2009, a total of 15,477 adults from the cross-sectional 33 Communities Chinese Health Study provided blood samples and completed a questionnaire.

Trial protocol: a clustered, randomised, longitudinal, type 2 translational trial of alcohol consumption and alcohol-related harm among adolescents in Australia.

Background: This cluster randomised control trial is designed to evaluate whether the Communities That Care intervention (CTC) is effective in reducing the proportion of secondary school age adolescents who use alcohol before the Australian legal purchasing age of 18 years. Secondary outcomes are other substance use and antisocial behaviours. Long term economic benefits of reduced alcohol use by adolescents for the community will also be assessed.