Australian Research Council Discovery Research Articles

Serum proteomic profiling of physical activity reveals CD300LG as a novel exerkine with a potential causal link to glucose homeostasis

Background:Physical activity has been associated with preventing the development of type 2 diabetes and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. However, our understanding of the precise molecular mechanisms underlying these effects remains incomplete and good biomarkers to objectively assess physical activity are lacking.Methods:We analyzed 3072 serum proteins in 26 men, normal weight or overweight, undergoing 12 weeks of a combined strength and endurance exercise intervention. We estimated insulin sensitivity with hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamp, maximum oxygen uptake, muscle strength, and used MRI/MRS to evaluate body composition and organ fat depots. Muscle and subcutaneous adipose tissue biopsies were used for mRNA sequencing. Additional association analyses were performed in samples from up to 47,747 individuals in the UK Biobank, as well as using two-sample Mendelian randomization and mice models.Results:Following 12 weeks of exercise intervention, we observed significant changes in 283 serum proteins. Notably, 66 of these proteins were elevated in overweight men and positively associated with liver fat before the exercise regimen, but were normalized after exercise. Furthermore, for 19.7 and 12.1% of the exercise-responsive proteins, corresponding changes in mRNA expression levels in muscle and fat, respectively, were shown. The protein CD300LG displayed consistent alterations in blood, muscle, and fat. Serum CD300LG exhibited positive associations with insulin sensitivity, and to angiogenesis-related gene expression in both muscle and fat. Furthermore, serum CD300LG was positively associated with physical activity and negatively associated with glucose levels in the UK Biobank. In this sample, the association between serum CD300LG and physical activity was significantly stronger in men than in women. Mendelian randomization analysis suggested potential causal relationships between levels of serum CD300LG and fasting glucose, 2 hr glucose after an oral glucose tolerance test, and HbA1c. Additionally, Cd300lg responded to exercise in a mouse model, and we observed signs of impaired glucose tolerance in male, but not female, Cd300lg knockout mice.Conclusions:Our study identified several novel proteins in serum whose levels change in response to prolonged exercise and were significantly associated with body composition, liver fat, and glucose homeostasis. Serum CD300LG increased with physical activity and is a potential causal link to improved glucose levels. CD300LG may be a promising exercise biomarker and a therapeutic target in type 2 diabetes.Funding:South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority, Simon Fougners Fund, Diabetesforbundet, Johan Selmer Kvanes’ legat til forskning og bekjempelse av sukkersyke. The UK Biobank resource reference 53641. Australian National Health and Medical Research Council Investigator Grant (APP2017942). Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Award (DE220101226). Research Council of Norway (Project grant: 325640 and Mobility grant: 287198). The Medical Student Research Program at the University of Oslo. Novo Nordisk Fonden Excellence Emerging Grant in Endocrinology and Metabolism 2023 (NNF23OC0082123).Clinical trial number:clinicaltrials.gov: NCT01803568.

Current and future burden of Ross River virus infection attributable to increasing temperature in Australia: a population-based study

Ross River virus (RRV), Australia's most notifiable vector-borne disease transmitted through mosquito bites, has seen increased transmission due to rising temperatures. Quantifying the burden of RRV infection attributable to increasing temperatures (both current and future) is pivotal to inform prevention strategies in the context of climate change. As RRV-related deaths are rare in Australia, we utilised years lived with disability (YLDs) associated with RRV infection data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) Burden of Disease database between 2003 and 2018. We obtained relative risks per 1°C temperature increase in RRV infection from a previous meta-analysis. Exposure distributions for each Köppen-Geiger climate zone were calculated separately and compared with the theoretical-minimum-risk exposure distribution to calculate RRV burden attributable to increasing temperatures during the baseline period (2003-2018), and projected future burdens for the 2030s and 2050s under two greenhouse gas emission scenarios (Representative Concentration Pathways, RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5), two adaptation scenarios, and different population growth series. During the baseline period (2003-2018), increasing mean temperatures contributed to 35.8 (±0.5) YLDs (19.1%) of the observed RRV burden in Australia. The mean temperature attributable RRV burden varied across climate zones and jurisdictions. Under both RCP scenarios, the projected RRV burden is estimated to increase in the future despite adaptation scenarios. By the 2050s, without adaptation, the RRV burden could reach 45.8 YLDs under RCP4.5 and 51.1 YLDs under RCP8.5. Implementing a 10% adaptation strategy could reduce RRV burden to 41.8 and 46.4 YLDs, respectively. These findings provide scientific evidence for informing policy decisions and guiding resource allocation for mitigating the future RRV burden. The current findings underscore the need to develop location-specific adaptation strategies for climate-sensitive disease control and prevention. Australian Research Council Discovery Program.

The effect of informal caring on mental health among adolescents and young adults in Australia: a population-based longitudinal study

Young carers are people aged up to 25 years who provide unpaid care to a relative or a friend living with a long-term condition or a disability. Providing informal care is associated with poor mental health. Longitudinal evidence on this relationship among young people is scarce. To address this gap, we assessed the mental health of people aged 15-25 years when providing informal care compared with when not providing informal care. We conducted a population-based longitudinal study using 20 years of data between 2001 and 2020 from the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey. We included observations of participants aged 15-25 years with at least two observations across 20 waves of HILDA. Informal care was categorised as 0 h per week, 1-19 h per week, and 20 or more h per week. Mental health was measured using the Mental Health Inventory (MHI-5) from the 36-Item Short Form Survey (SF-36). Multivariate linear fixed-effects regression models were fitted to assess within-person changes in mental health when providing different levels of informal care. Of 44 663 people with 410 658 observations who participated in HILDA waves 1 to 20, 32 726 were excluded with 351 445 observations. 11 937 young people (with 59 213 observations) were deemed eligible for this study and, of these, 8996 participants with 43 231 observations were included in the complete case analytical sample. When caring for 1-19 h per week, young carers had an MHI-5 score of -1·98 points (95% CI -3·06 to -0·89) compared with when caring for 0 h per week. Mental health was worse when caring for 20 or more h per week, with participants displaying an MHI-5 score of -3·47 points (95% CI -6·02 to -0·92) compared with when caring for 0 h per week. Our findings were consistent across sensitivity tests. Our findings suggest potential mental health effects of informal care in young people, particularly when providing an intense amount of caregiving. Reducing young caring loads could be a possible avenue for intervention. Melbourne Disability Institute Scholarship, University of Melbourne Research Training Program Scholarship, Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award, National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia funded Centre of Research Excellence in Disability and Health.

“Very communitas”: Testing a hypothesis in creative writing, methodologically

This paper examines the concept of communitas in practice (as a loanword from cultural anthropology and social sciences), what it is and what it can offer creative writing, to test whether it might apply to different creative practice settings. Specifically for this essay, the setting is WrICE (Writers Immersion and Cultural Exchange program) and the research project examining WrICE as the object of its enquiry (Australian Research Council Discovery Project entitled “Connecting Asia-Pacific Literary Cultures: Grounds, Encounter and Exchange”). If we think of communitas in the way anthropologist and poet Edith “Edie” Turner likes to describe it as (un)structured ritual, a condition for creativity, a space where the intensity of feeling or joy can arise (2012), how might a communitas unfolding look and feel as we practice creative writing? How might we think about communitas and what would it mean to do communitas as creative writing method, as drawing-as-method? Also, how might communitas be performed on the page in an academic context such as this: can we as researchers enact or embody communitas?

Projection of high temperature-related burden of kidney disease in Australia under different climate change, population and adaptation scenarios: population-based study

The dual impacts of a warming climate and population ageing lead to an increasing kidney disease prevalence, highlighting the importance of quantifying the burden of kidney disease (BoKD) attributable to high temperature, yet studies on this subject are limited. The study aims to quantify the BoKD attributable to high temperatures in Australia across all states and territories, and project future BoKD under climatic, population and adaptation scenarios. Data on disability-adjusted-life-years (DALYs) due to kidney disease, including years of life lost (YLL), and years lived with disability (YLD), were collected during 2003-2018 (baseline) across all states and territories in Australia. The temperature-response association was estimated using a meta-regression model. Future temperature projections were calculated using eight downscaled climate models to estimate changes in attributable BoKD centred around 2030s and 2050s, under two greenhouse gas emissions scenarios (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5), while considering changes in population size and age structure, and human adaptation to climate change. Over the baseline (2003-2018), high-temperature contributed to 2.7% (Standard Deviation: 0.4%) of the observed BoKD in Australia. The future population attributable fraction and the attributable BoKD, projected using RCP4.5 and RCP8.5, showed a gradually increasing trend when assuming no human adaptation. Future projections were most strongly influenced by the population change, with the high temperature-related BoKD increasing by 18.4-67.4% compared to the baseline under constant population and by 100.2-291.2% when accounting for changes in population size and age structure. However, when human adaptation was adopted (from no to partial to full), the high temperature-related BoKD became smaller. It is expected that increasing high temperature exposure will substantially contribute to higher BoKD across Australia, underscoring the urgent need for public health interventions to mitigate the negative health impacts of a warming climate on BoKD. Australian Research Council Discovery Program.

Blocks

Blocks

Broad immunity to SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern mediated by a SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain protein vaccine.

The SARS-CoV-2 global pandemic has fuelled the generation of vaccines at an unprecedented pace and scale. However, many challenges remain, including: the emergence of vaccine-resistant mutant viruses, vaccine stability during storage and transport, waning vaccine-induced immunity, and concerns about infrequent adverse events associated with existing vaccines. We report on a protein subunit vaccine comprising the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the ancestral SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, dimerised with an immunoglobulin IgG1 Fc domain. These were tested in conjunction with three different adjuvants: a TLR2 agonist R4-Pam2Cys, an NKT cell agonist glycolipid α-Galactosylceramide, or MF59® squalene oil-in-water adjuvant, using mice, rats and hamsters. We also developed an RBD-human IgG1 Fc vaccine with an RBD sequence of the immuno-evasive beta variant (N501Y, E484K, K417N). These vaccines were also tested as a heterologous third dose booster in mice, following priming with whole spike vaccine. Each formulation of the RBD-Fc vaccines drove strong neutralising antibody (nAb) responses and provided durable and highly protective immunity against lower and upper airway infection in mouse models of COVID-19. The 'beta variant' RBD vaccine, combined with MF59® adjuvant, induced strong protection in mice against the beta strain as well as the ancestral strain. Furthermore, when used as a heterologous third dose booster, the RBD-Fc vaccines combined with MF59® increased titres of nAb against other variants including alpha, delta, delta+, gamma, lambda, mu, and omicron BA.1, BA.2 and BA.5. These results demonstrated that an RBD-Fc protein subunit/MF59® adjuvanted vaccine can induce high levels of broadly reactive nAbs, including when used as a booster following prior immunisation of mice with whole ancestral-strain spike vaccines. This vaccine platform offers a potential approach to augment some of the currently approved vaccines in the face of emerging variants of concern, and it has now entered a phase I clinical trial. This work was supported by grants from the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) (2005846), The Jack Ma Foundation, National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (NHMRC; 1113293) and Singapore National Medical Research Council (MOH-COVID19RF-003). Individual researchers were supported by an NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellowship (1117766), NHMRC Investigator Awards (2008913 and 1173871), Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Research Award (ARC DECRA; DE210100705) and philanthropic awards from IFM investors and the A2 Milk Company.

An Invited Reply to: A Comment on: The exploitation of sexual signals by predators: a meta-analysis (2022) White et al.

An Invited Reply to: A Comment on: The exploitation of sexual signals by predators: a meta-analysis (2022) White et al.

It’s All about the Toys!

It’s All about the Toys!

Effects of high temperatures and heatwaves on dengue fever: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Studies have shown that dengue virus transmission increases in association with ambient temperature. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the effect of both high temperatures and heatwave events on dengue transmission in different climate zones globally. A systematic literature search was conducted in PubMed, Scopus, Embase, and Web of Science from January 1990 to September 20, 2022. We included peer reviewed original observational studies using ecological time series, case crossover, or case series study designs reporting the association of high temperatures and heatwave with dengue and comparing risks over different exposures or time periods. Studies classified as case reports, clinical trials, non-human studies, conference abstracts, editorials, reviews, books, posters, commentaries; and studies that examined only seasonal effects were excluded. Effect estimates were extracted from published literature. A random effects meta-analysis was performed to pool the relative risks (RRs) of dengue infection per 1°C increase in temperature, and further subgroup analyses were also conducted. The quality and strength of evidence were evaluated following the Navigation Guide systematic review methodology framework. The review protocol has been registered in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO). The study selection process yielded 6367 studies. A total of 106 studies covering more than four million dengue cases fulfilled the inclusion criteria; of these, 54 studies were eligible for meta-analysis. The overall pooled estimate showed a 13% increase in risk of dengue infection (RR=1.13; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.11-1.16, I2=98.0%) for each 1°C increase in high temperatures. Subgroup analyses by climate zones suggested greater effects of temperature in tropical monsoon climate zone (RR=1.29, 95% CI: 1.11-1.51) and humid subtropical climate zone (RR=1.20, 95% CI: 1.15-1.25). Heatwave events showed association with an increased risk of dengue infection (RR=1.08; 95% CI: 0.95-1.23, I2=88.9%), despite a wide confidence interval. The overall strength of evidence was found to be "sufficient" for high temperatures but "limited" for heatwaves. Our results showed that high temperatures increased the risk of dengue infection, albeit with varying risks across climate zones and different levels of national income. High temperatures increased the relative risk of dengue infection. Future studies on the association between temperature and dengue infection should consider local and regional climate, socio-demographic and environmental characteristics to explore vulnerability at local and regional levels for tailored prevention. Australian Research Council Discovery Program.

The association between unpaid labour and mental health in working-age adults in Australia from 2002 to 2020: a longitudinal population-based cohort study.

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. In this longitudinal population-based cohort study, 19 waves of the Household, Income, and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey were used to employ a fixed effects regression analysis to examine the associations between unpaid labour and mental health in working-age (aged 25-64 years) Australian adults. Mental health was assessed using the MHI-5 scale. Both the individual and the combined effects of four different domains of unpaid labour (household work, childcare, care for adults, and outdoor tasks) were interrogated, as were the gender differences. Of the 37 352 participants (297 036 observations) in waves 2002-20 of the HILDA Survey, 22 832 people (190 207 observations) were aged 25-64 years, and after excluding participants with missing data, 21 014 participants (150 163 observations) were included in the analysis. Increasing time in household work was negatively associated with mental health in both men (β coefficient=-0·026 [95% CI -0·04 to -0·01]) and women (β coefficient=-0·009 [-0·02 to 0·001]), as was care for adults (disabled or older people) in women (β coefficient=-0·027 [-0·04 to -0·01]). Conversely, increasing time in childcare for women (β coefficient=0·016 [0·01 to 0·02]) and outdoor tasks for men, was positively associated with mental health (β coefficient=0·067 [0·04 to 0·09]). A null finding for the overall cumulative total unpaid labour exposure for both men and women was probably attributable to the opposing direction of effects between the individual domains that constituted the total load. This study reveals considerable variance and nuance in how different domains of unpaid labour affect mental health, as well as continued inequity in the division of unpaid labour in households, with women doing considerably more unpaid labour than men. This study also exposes important challenges associated with measuring and understanding total (combined) unpaid labour as a determinant of health. University of Melbourne Research Training Scholarship, Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Award, Australian Research Council Linkage Project.

Centring equity in data‐driven public health: a call for guiding principles to support the equitable design and outcomes of Australia's data integration systems

Centring equity in data‐driven public health: a call for guiding principles to support the equitable design and outcomes of Australia's data integration systems

Contributors

Previous article FreeContributorsPDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmailQR Code SectionsMoreWei Chen (陈玮) is assistant professor at the School of International and Public Affairs, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Her research interests include comparative political economy, political economy of contemporary China, especially government-business relations in China.Emile Dirks is a postdoctoral fellow at The Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto’s Munk School, University of Toronto. His research on policing and biometric surveillance in China has been published by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute and The Citizen Lab, and he is a frequent contributor to international media on these subjects.Yuefang Duan is a professor of resettlement economics at China Three Gorges University in the School of Economics and Management and the director of the Research Center for Reservoir Resettlement. His research interests mainly focus on involuntary resettlement that is caused by development projects. He has been involved in numerous research projects and published more than 80 papers on Chinese resettlement policies and practice.Diana Fu is an associate professor of political science at the University of Toronto and nonresident fellow at Brookings Institution. Her research portfolio includes civil society, repression, authoritarian citizenship, diaspora activism, and labor politics. She is the author of the award-winning book Mobilizing without the Masses: Control and Contention in China (Cambridge, 2018). She is a member of the Royal Society of Canada’s College.Jiying Jiang (蒋佶颖) is a PhD candidate in the Department of Political Science at the University of California, San Diego. Her research interests include Chinese politics and policymaking, legislative process, and bureaucratic politics. Her dissertation examines the political logic of ambiguity in Chinese national statutes.Shu Keng (耿曙) is a university research fellow at the School of Public Affairs, Zhejiang University. His research interests include comparative political economy, Chinese local governments, and cross-Strait relations. His recent publications include a book, Making Governments Work in China (in Chinese, 2022), a co-edited textbook, Comparative Politics (in Chinese, 2021), and several articles in China Journal, China Quarterly, and Journal of Contemporary China.Sarah Rogers is a senior lecturer in contemporary Chinese studies at the Asia Institute, University of Melbourne. She is a geographer who studies social, political, and environmental change in China. Her research interests include hydropolitics, poverty alleviation, resettlement, agrarian change, and climate adaptation. She is a chief investigator on two Australian Research Council Discovery Projects: one on the technopolitics of China’s South-North Water Transfer project (2017–22) and one on the restructuring of China’s agricultural sector (2018–22).Ju-Han Zoe Wang is a lecturer in environment and development at James Cook University. Her research expertise includes environmental governance, agrarian change, rural development, indigenous knowledge, and migration. She has been conducting research looking at the influence of various environmental, development, and agrarian interventions (e.g., NGO projects, government policy, and commodity markets) on natural resource uses in China.Brooke Wilmsen is a senior lecturer in development studies in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at La Trobe University, Australia. A former Australia Research Council DECRA holder and current Australian Research Council Discovery Project Chief Investigator on restructuring of China’s agricultural sector (2018–22), her research interests include forced displacement, involuntary resettlement, climate adaptation, social protection, and agrarian change.Siyi Zhang (张思意) is a PhD student at the Department of Sociology, Zhejiang University. Her research interests include personnel management in the public sector and local government behavior in China. She has recently published an article in China Quarterly.Tan Zhao (赵檀) is assistant professor at the School of Public Administration and Policy, Renmin University of China. His research focuses on rural governance in contemporary China. Previous article DetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The China Journal Volume 89January 2023 Published on behalf of the Australian Centre on China in the World at the Australian National University Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/722961 © 2023 The Australian National University. All rights reserved.PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Promoting students’ safety and wellbeing: ethical practice in schools

Although ‘child safety’ is now a national policy priority in Australia, there is little research exploring the practices in schools that contribute to children and young people’s felt sense of safety and wellbeing. Drawing on a mixed-method Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery project, this article presents findings from interviews with school staff (N = 10), leaders (N = 5) and nine focus groups with students (N = 58), in primary and secondary schools in three Australian states (New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia). We employ relational ethics, recognition theory and the theory of practice architectures to explore practices at school that support student wellbeing and safety. The findings contribute significantly to understanding the ‘bundled’ nature of current practices and the conditions that enable and constrain these. Close attention to these findings is critical as schools seek to operationalise the National Child Safe Principles and refine ongoing safeguarding procedures. The findings have informed the development of an online survey that is currently testing, on a much larger scale, which elements of ethical practice are most positively associated with students’ safety, wellbeing and recognition at school.

Defining performance thresholds for effective management of biodiversity within protected areas.

Performance thresholds are an important tool for determining successful conservation outcomes. They provide an objective means of defining good ecological condition and have been endorsed as an essential part of best practice in protected area (PA) management within the International Union for the Conservation of Nature Green List of Protected and Conserved Areas Standard. With a growing number of PAs attaining Green List status globally, thresholds developed by PAs on the Green List present an excellent resource with which to identify the attributes of well-defined performance thresholds. We examined 349 thresholds associated with PAs on the Green List to determine whether they were specific and measurable (i.e., factors recognized as essential for setting well-defined targets). We assessed whether thresholds were defined quantitatively and whether definitions included ambiguous terms (e.g., stable numbers). We identified six different ways thresholds were expressed and found that many thresholds were expressed as management objectives, rather than ecological condition thresholds, although this trend improved over time. Approximately one-half of the performance thresholds lacked the necessary specificity to delineate successful outcomes. Our results enabled us to develop a checklist of information required to set robust performance thresholds. Recommendations include that thresholds should be quantitatively defined, including quantitative estimates of the limits of acceptable change (LAC) around the target condition. To ensure transparency, a rationale and associated evidence should be provided to support the threshold and the LAC. When accompanied by a rationale and quantitative estimate of the current condition of the value, unambiguously defined thresholds with a quantitative LAC provide an objective means of demonstrating that successful conservation outcomes have been achieved. These recommendations will help conservation managers apply the Green List Standard and improve the measurement of conservation outcomes more broadly.

Mosques and Imams: Everyday Islam in Eastern Indonesia

Kathryn M. Robinson [ed.], Mosques and Imams Everyday Islam in Eastern Indonesia, Singapore: NUS Press, 2020. This compilation features nine excellent contributions from authors who studied the role of local imams and mosques in eastern Indonesia as part of the project “Being Muslim in Eastern Indonesia: Practice, Politics, and Cultural Diversity” funded by Australian Research Council Discovery Project. The research examines not only the role of imams in eastern Indonesia, but also discusses the process and sociocultural impacts of Islam on Islamic identity and religious authority in the region. Moreover, it also examines how Islam is practiced at the local level and the way in which village imams wield religious authority. By appreciating Indonesia’s cultural wealth and respecting the variety of Islamic traditions in Indonesia, this book provides insights into the development of Islam and its relationship with local traditions, which accommodate local communities, globalisation, culture and Islam.

Mobile Food Record 24 Hour Recall (mFR24) Was “Easy” and an Acceptable Mobile Health Dietary Assessment Method

Abstract Objectives Technology has increased the availability of mobile health (mHealth) apps for dietary assessment. The 24 hour recall (24 HR) is the current preferred method to monitor population diet related health and nutritional status to inform public health nutrition policies. A novel labelled image assisted 24 HR has potential to enhance engagement with consumers but needs to be evaluated for acceptability and accuracy. 1. To identify features of an image-assisted mobile 24 HR (mFR24) that are enablers or barriers to its acceptable use in adult dietary assessment. Methods Controlled feeding study participants recorded before and after images of food and beverages consumed at three meals in a single day using the mobile app. The next day, they labelled the items in their images from a food list in the app linked to a food composition database; before an interview assisted 24 HR and using the novel labelled images. Participant's acceptability perceptions of the mFR24 were asked via an online survey using a 5-point Likert scale to rate their agreement with statements including how easy it was to find and remember foods and amounts consumed, and if they would be willing to use the mFR24 again. Results Participants (n = 134) were mainly female (57%), under 35 years (63%), held a bachelor degree or higher (75%), identified as Asian (67%), in full time employment (46%) or a student (34%). Two thirds (68%) of participants reported usually taking photos of their food, 90% agreed it was ‘easy’ to record their intake using the app. When undertaking the 24 HR, participants agreed using labelled images of their food and beverages made it easy to remember foods (95.4%) and amounts eaten (93.2%). The majority (88.6%) were willing to undertake the mFR24 method again. Age, gender, previous weight loss history and usually taking food photos were not found to be associated with the ease of mFR24 use. Conclusions Labelled image based mFR24 method of dietary intake assessment hold promise for being an easy and acceptable population dietary assessment method to inform dietary guideline advice. Investigating the accuracy of the labelled image mFR24 will be the next step in the investigation of the novel mFR24. Funding Sources This study was funded by an Australian Research Council Discovery Project 190,101,723. The mobile food record is funded by NIH, NCI (1U01CA130784-01); NIH, NIDDK (1R01-DK073711-01A1).

Heat exposure and cardiovascular health outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Heat exposure is an important but underappreciated risk factor contributing to cardiovascular disease. Warming temperatures might therefore pose substantial challenges to population health, especially in a rapidly aging population. To address a potential increase in the burden of cardiovascular disease, a better understanding of the effects of ambient heat on different types of cardiovascular disease and factors contributing to vulnerability is required, especially in the context of climate change. This study reviews the current epidemiological evidence linking heat exposures (both high temperatures and heatwaves) with cardiovascular disease outcomes, including mortality and morbidity. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched PubMed, Embase, and Scopus for literature published between Jan 1, 1990, and March 10, 2022, and evaluated the quality of the evidence following the Navigation Guide Criteria. We included original research on independent study populations in which the exposure metric was high temperatures or heatwaves, and observational studies using ecological time series, case crossover, or case series study designs comparing risks over different exposures or time periods. Reviews, commentaries, grey literature, and studies that examined only seasonal effects without explicitly considering temperature were excluded. The risk estimates were derived from included articles and if insufficient data were available we contacted the authors to provide clarification. We did a random-effects meta-analysis to pool the relative risk (RR) of the association between high temperatures and heatwaves and cardiovascular disease outcomes. The study protocol was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42021232601). In total, 7360 results were returned from our search of which we included 282 articles in the systematic review, and of which 266 were eligible for the meta-analysis. There was substantial heterogeneity for both mortality (high temperatures: I2=93·6%, p<0·0001; heatwaves: I2=98·9%, p<0·0001) and morbidity (high temperatures: I2=98·8%, p<0·0001; heatwaves: I2=83·5%, p<0·0001). Despite the heterogeneity in environmental conditions and population dynamics among the reviewed studies, results showed that a 1°C increase in temperature was positively associated with cardiovascular disease-related mortality across all considered diagnoses. The overall risk of cardiovascular disease-related mortality increased by 2·1% (RR 1·021 [95%CI 1·020-1·023]), with the highest specific disease risk being for stroke and coronary heart disease. A 1°C temperature rise was also associated with a significant increase in morbidity due to arrhythmias and cardiac arrest and coronary heart disease. Our findings suggest heat exposure leads to elevated risk of morbidity and mortality for women, people 65 years and older, individuals living in tropical climates, and those in countries of lower-middle income. Heatwaves were also significantly associated with a 17% increase in risk of mortality (RR 1·117 [95% CI 1·093-1·141]), and increasing heatwave intensity with an increasing risk (RR 1·067 [95% CI 1·056-1·078] for low intensity, 1·088 [1·058-1·119] for middle intensity, and 1·189 [1·109-1·269] for high intensity settings). This review strengthens the evidence on the increase in cardiovascular disease risk due to ambient heat exposures in different climate zones. The widespread prevalence of exposure to hot temperatures, in conjunction with an increase in the proportion of older people in the population, might result in a rise in poor cardiovascular disease health outcomes associated with a warming climate. Evidence-based prevention measures are needed to attenuate peaks in cardiovascular events during hot spells, thereby lowering the worldwide total heat-related burden of cardiovascular disease-related morbidity and death. Australian Research Council Discovery Program.

A framework for operationalising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander data sovereignty in Australia: Results of a systematic literature review of published studies.

SummaryBackgroundRacial health disparities are only likely to be meaningfully improved by tailoring public health and clinical interventions to the specific needs of Indigenous people and their communities. Accurate tailoring relies on the availability of high-quality Indigenous-specific data. The potential benefits of increased availability of Indigenous data need to be balanced by efforts to ensure those data are collected and used appropriately. This paper identifies characteristics of Indigenous Data Sovereignty (IDS) principles and considers a framework for operationalisation.MethodsA PRISMA compliant search of the literature was undertaken, using methods detailed in the Cochrane Collaboration Handbook on Systematic Reviews of Health Promotion and Public Health Interventions (1). The search strategy comprised two steps: a search of 11 scientific electronic databases and five grey literature sources. The search was limited by date of publication (1 January 2000 to 1 December 2021). The following keywords and subject heading terms were used: (exp Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander or Aborigin* or Torres Strait Island* or, Oceanic ancestry group) and (exp research or biomedical research or population surveillance or translational medical research or, research design) and (exp data or datasets or data collection or data management or health surveys or information dissemination or, intellectual property) and (exp self-determination or ownership or control or access or possession or OCAP or sovereignty or, ethics) and, (exp Australia). IDS principles: (i) ownership; (ii) control; (iii) accessibility; (iv) custodianship; (v) accountability to Indigenous people; (vi) amplify Community voice; (vii) relevant and reciprocal; and (viii) sustainably self-determining. Using standard data extraction forms, we examined relevant Australian studies to identify key characteristics and frequency with which they cited IDS principles. These findings were consolidated into an operationalisation framework.Findings34 relevant Australian published studies were identified. The most frequently cited IDS principles were Accountability to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and sustainably self-determining. The least frequently cited principle was Access. A framework to operationalise IDS principles is proposed that is both standardised internationally and able to be tailored to the diverse contexts of Indigenous peoples.InterpretationIDS is emergent in Australia and there is a clear need to establish an agreed set of International IDS principles and a framework for their operationalisation and contextualisation across diverse Indigenous communities and contexts.FundingThis research project is funded through an Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Grant from 2017 to 2022. The National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health. The 1st author (ST) is supported by a scholarship co-funded by NDARC and the Lowitja Institute.

The Marine Biodiversity Observation Network Plankton Workshops: Plankton Ecosystem Function, Biodiversity, and Forecasting—Research Requirements and Applications

The Marine Biodiversity Observation Network Plankton Workshops: Plankton Ecosystem Function, Biodiversity, and Forecasting—Research Requirements and Applications