The University of Queensland

Zoonotic influenza poses a significant public health concern to agricultural industries, food security, wildlife conservation, and human health. Nations situated along migratory bird flyways and characterised by dense populations of livestock and humans, and low biosecurity of production animal value chains are particularly vulnerable to zoonotic influenza outbreaks. While spatial risk assessments have been used to map vulnerable areas, their applicability across multiple sectors has been so far limited. Here, we introduce the development and application of a Zoonotic Influenza Distribution and Ranking (ZIDAR) framework to identify areas highly suitable for zoonotic influenza transmission across multiple exposure interfaces and to measure the importance of associated risk factors. The development of ZIDAR involves a seven-step approach distributed across an initial expert consultation stage followed by a technical modelling stage. The expert consultation stage aims to define interfaces of exposure across human, livestock and wildlife, identification of associated risk factors for each of the identified interfaces and a prioritisation activity to define weights for the interfaces and associated risk factors. This is then followed by a technical phase involving model building, model structure validation, data gathering and assessment of model performance. The model development and performance assessment steps of the technical stage includes a model calibration step to maximise model fitness with regards to wildlife and animal interfaces by finding pareto-efficient sets of weights for risk factors. We applied the ZIDAR framework in Nepal and the resulting model structure enabled the identification of hotspot areas where the risk of transmission is more significant across multiple interfaces simultaneously. The ZIDAR Nepal model's predictive accuracy, determined by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, demonstrated strong performance: 0.87 and 0.85 for the wildlife and animal components, respectively. The ZIDAR framework presented here provides valuable insights to enable the formulation of comprehensive One Health surveillance programs and inform targeted and effective interventions to bolster pandemic preparedness strategies.

The subject matter requirements for patent applications with claims related to bioprinted tissues and bioinks show both similarities and differences across three major patent jurisdictions: Australia, the US, and Europe.

Patent prosecution data is crucial in understanding how the current patent provisions and case law are interpreted and applied. Considering the importance of patent prosecution data and the scope of this book, the present chapter reports the results of an empirical analysis using the publicly available patent prosecution data from patent applications with claims directed to bioprinted tissues and bioinks in Australia, the US, and the EU. The insights provided in this chapter will also contribute towards answering the overarching research question of this book, and will also address some of the subsidiary research questions, particularly ‘What types of patent claims are being applied for and granted/objected to in relation to 3D bioprinted tissues and bioinks?’ and ‘How are patent offices currently assessing and responding to patent claims related to 3D bioprinted tissues and bioinks?’ This chapter provides insights into how patent examiners are interpreting and applying the patent provisions related to patentable subject matter and other patentability criteria to accept or object to specific subject matter related to bioprinting tissue and bioinks. A comparative approach has been employed in analysing the results and insights of the patent prosecution data analysis. Considering the research questions and the scope of this book, the patent prosecution data analysis is primarily focused on patentable subject matter requirements, with a briefer overview of the other patentability criteria, these being novelty, inventive step, utility, and the disclosure requirements.

This chapter sets the scene for this book by elaborating on the technological aspects of bioprinting, including the historical context of bioprinting, how the technology has evolved and increased in complexity, and why there is an ongoing need for innovation in this field to understand the demand for patents.

Over centuries, patent systems around the globe have had to adapt to accommodate changing technologies. In the past few decades, however, the speed of technological advancement has been particularly demanding on global patent systems, requiring them to evolve and adapt to these advanced innovations more efficiently. Research on 3D bioprinting technologies is a case in point. This research effort has escalated across the world in recent times. Preliminary patent searches have indicated that most of the patent applications related to bioprinting are filed in the United States (US), Australia, and Europe. Australia, Europe, and the US could thus be described as ‘3D bioprinting technology hubs,’ justifying the choice of these three jurisdictions for analysis in this book.

Photocatalytic two‐electron oxygen reduction reaction (2e⁻ ORR) represents a promising approach for H2O2 production. However, the lack of photocatalysts with appropriate O2 adsorption and hydrogenation capabilities impedes the H2O2 production performance. Herein, we report the synthesis of Ni‐doped ZnS hollow nanocubes with S vacancies (Ni‐ZnS‐Sv) as a dual‐site 2e⁻ ORR photocatalyst for efficient H2O2 production. Experimental results and density functional theory calculations reveal the vital roles of Sv in modulating the electronic structures of Ni and S dual sites toward enhanced 2e⁻ ORR selectivity and activity. The atomically dispersed Ni sites with electron‐rich state enable a Pauling‐type (end‐on) O2 adsorption configuration and a modest binding strength of O2 and OOH*, largely avoiding the O─O bond cleavage. Besides, the formation of electron‐deficient S sites weakens the S─Hads bond, facilitating *Hads migration to adjacent Ni sites and accelerating the hydrogenation kinetics of O2 to OOH* intermediate. As a result, the elaborately designed Ni‐ZnS‐Sv photocatalyst exhibits a high H2O2 yield of 5649.49 µmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹ under UV–vis light irradiation in pure water. Our work offers new insights into the design principles of high‐performance photocatalysts for artificial H2O2 photosynthesis systems.

Discussions of the Levallois method typically focus on the preparation of the core surface geometry as the primary factor in determining the characteristics of Levallois products. While some studies have acknowledged the role of knapping gestures, there is still limited empirical investigation into how different force application parameters influence the formation of these flakes. This study presents the results from a set of controlled experiments designed to assess the effect of hammer striking angle on the morphology and fracture trajectory of preferential Levallois flakes. By using standardised glass cores with surface morphologies that replicate those of a flintknapped Levallois core, the findings show that variations in the hammer angle of blow significantly alter the direction of fracture propagation through the core. These changes affect how fractures intersect with the core surface convexities, ultimately impacting the size and shape of the detached flakes. The results challenge existing models of conchoidal fracture and highlight the key role that force application variables play in controlling Levallois flaking outcomes. This study has important implications for interpreting the Levallois method in the archaeological record, emphasising the need for further research on the variability of hammer angle of blow in Levallois flake assemblages.

We describe a case of altered bowel habit, early satiety, anorexia and weight loss caused by autoimmune enteropathy. This diagnosis was confirmed by biopsies obtained from upper gastrointestinal endoscopy and ileocolonoscopy. Further investigations revealed multiple pulmonary nodules which were metastases from a malignant thymoma. The patient was commenced on oral budesonide and Mesalazine, in addition to oral and enteral supplementation driven by the specialist nutrition support team, but she did not achieve histological remission, nor did she demonstrate improvement in her nutritional status. She received 3-weeks of in-patient parenteral nutrition, but then subsequently deteriorated as she declined home parenteral nutrition. The patient died eight months later from complications of her disease. This case highlights the rare manifestation of metastatic thymoma presenting with autoimmune enteropathy that led to intestinal failure and death.

Patient centred clinical pharmacy activities have demonstrated improvements in patient outcomes. There are limited published data on workflow practices of pharmacists to assist with clinical pharmacy service delivery improvement. To determine the amount of time clinical pharmacists spend each day performing their work tasks, interventions and interruptions. To determine the proportion of time performing clinical tasks and tasks face-to-face with patients. Trained pharmacy students observed clinical pharmacists and recorded clinical activities using the timer app Clockify™ on a smart device (phone or tablet) at four hospitals over 9 days between 29th July and 8th August 2024. Pharmacy students recorded the number and types of patients seen, interventions and interruption patterns. A total of 678.3 h of pharmacist activity were recorded. The mean time spent per day per patient type was 25.9 min (discharge patient), 23.5 min (new patient) and 10.3 min (review patient). Pharmacists spent the largest proportion of time (21.9%) on discharge patients followed by review patients (21.6%). Over 80% of pharmacist time was spent performing clinical activities, of which almost 12% was spent face-to-face with patients. Pharmacists were interrupted 34 times per day and performed 67 interventions per 100 patients. Pharmacists spend over 80% of their work time performing clinical activities for patients, of which almost 12% is spent face-to-face with patients. The largest proportion of time is spent with discharge patients followed by review patients.

Conotoxin Vc1.1 is a disulfide‐rich peptide and a promising drug candidate for treating neuropathic and chronic pain. Backbone cyclization was applied to enhance its drug‐like properties, resulting in improved serum stability and oral bioavailability. However, this modification also adversely affected its stability and activity in simulated intestinal fluid (SIF). To address these adverse effects, we explored the use of polyethylene glycol (PEG) linkers as substitutes for peptide backbone cyclization linkers. PEG linkers are smaller, more flexible, and more stable than peptide linkers. Furthermore, previous studies have demonstrated that PEG backbone linkers can enhance the activity of conotoxins. In this study, we synthesized four PEG‐backboned cyclic Vc1.1 (cVc1.1) analogues with varying lengths of PEG linkers and used a chemo‐enzymatic method to cyclize these analogues. Their structure, stability, and activity were subsequently evaluated. Although the results revealed that PEG linkers preserved the SIF stability and activity of cVc1.1, they highlighted the crucial role of the peptide's helical structure in maintaining its stability and activity. Additionally, this work introduces a novel approach for synthesizing cyclic conotoxins.

Objective Childhood obesity is increasing in many countries, including Kuwait. Currently, adiposity is most commonly assessed from simple anthropometric measurements, e.g. height and weight or combined as body mass index (BMI). This is despite these surrogate measurements being poor indices of adiposity. Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) is a popular method for the assessment of body composition providing a measurement of adiposity as absolute fat mass (FM) or FM expressed as a percentage of body weight (%BF). BIA is, however, an indirect predictive method. This study developed a BIA-based prediction equation for body composition assessment in Kuwaiti children and, additionally, a prediction equation for %BF based on sum of skin-fold (SSF) thickness measurements. Design A cross-sectional design was used with primary school recruitment. Setting School population in Kuwait City; in-clinic assessments. Participants 158 Kuwaiti children aged 7-9 years. Body composition assessed using bioimpedance spectroscopy and skin-folds with prediction equations generate against deuterium dilution measurement of total body water and fat-free mass (FFM) as reference. Results The newly developed and cross-validated BIA equation predicted FFM with minimal bias (< 1%) and acceptable 2 standard deviation limits of agreement (±1.6 kg equivalent to ±10%) improving on the predictive performance of comparable published equations. Similarly, SSF predicted %BF with small bias (0.2 %BF) but relatively wide limits of agreement (±7 %BF). Conclusions These new equations are suitable for practical use for nutritional assessment in Kuwaiti children, particularly in epidemiological or public health settings although their applicability in other populations requires further research.

The development of human uterine cancer is a complex process involving the abnormal expression of tumor suppressors, such as PTEN, ARID1A, and TP53; mismatch repair protein MSH6; and transcription factors, such as PAX2 and PAX8. The functional changes that lead to uterine adenocarcinoma in pet rabbits are not fully understood despite the frequent occurrence of this condition in the species. Thus, an immunohistochemical analysis was performed to visualize the protein expression pattern of carcinogenesis-related molecules in surgical biopsy specimens from 56 uterine adenocarcinomas and 8 uteruses without significant lesions in pet rabbits. Seventy percent of the adenocarcinomas were positive for estrogen receptor (ER), 7% were positive for TP53, and there was a decreased expression in comparison to control uterine epithelium for PAX2 in 54%, for PAX8 in 73%, for ARID1A in 68%, and for MSH6 in 48% of the tumors. TP53 expression was not observed in control uterine tissues. There was a significant negative correlation between nuclear ER and PAX2 immunolabeling in uterine adenocarcinomas. Heat map analysis classified samples into 4 clusters, which revealed that 1 PAX2-positive group had a higher presence of papillary-type uterine adenocarcinomas and a lower prevalence of tubular/solid types compared with the 2 PAX2-negative groups. This study demonstrated that the immunohistochemical phenotype of rabbit uterine adenocarcinoma is comparable to that of human endometrial carcinomas, suggesting the potential for similar oncogenic mechanisms that might prove useful for translational medicine research.

Over the past two decades, digital mental health interventions (DMHIs) have seen a surge in studies with people experiencing mental ill-health, whether this be via web-based platforms, smartphone applications, text messages or other digital devices. Although DMHIs already demonstrate evidence of their acceptability and some of their effectiveness among different populations, the information about their safety is less clear. This Editorial reflects on a Delphi study by Taher and colleagues that explored the regulation of DMHIs and generated ten safety recommendations. We discuss these recommendations in the context of existing relevant literature and provide suggestions for further steps to advance research and policy on DMHIs in the UK and globally. Further dialog is needed, including the views and experiences of all key stakeholders, and particularly of people with lived experience, to ensure DMHIs are not only an acceptable and potentially effective treatment approach, but also safe for those that use them.

Lower respiratory tract infections, including Influenza-Like Illness (ILI), contribute significantly to local and global mortality rates. This study aimed to identify high-risk areas for ILI incidence at the county level in Iran during the 4-year period prior to COVID-19. Data were analyzed from 109,167 ILI notifications collected between March 2015 and March 2019 through “The Iran Influenza Surveillance System (IISS)”. Spatial scan statistics was utilized to identify significant spatial, temporal, and spatiotemporal clusters of ILI cases. The average age of patients was 40 years (range: 1–117), with females comprising 53% of cases. Males exhibited a higher significant case fatality rate (CFR= 3.28%) compared to females (CFR=2.46%)(P-value<0.05). Among all patients, 53% were tested for influenza, and 22% of those tested had a confirmed case, which accounts for 12% of all ILI patients, with Type A being the predominant strain, accounting for 79.15% of cases. Type A influenza had a higher CFR than type B (5.4% vs. 3.01%, respectively). Among the A virus subtypes, H1N1 exhibited the highest CFR at 8.06%. During the study period, from December 2015 to February 2016, provinces such as Khuzestan, Fars, Kerman, and Yazd reported the highest incidence of ILI. Similarly, the provinces of Alborz, Tehran, and Gilan also experienced elevated ILI rates. In contrast, the period from April 2015 to October 2015 saw the lowest incidence of ILI. Notably, the highest CFR was recorded during the months with the peak ILI incidence. The incidence of ILI fluctuated significantly, peaking at 42.04 in the first year, falling to 24.12 in the second year, and continuing to vary in the following years. These findings underscore the urgent need for tailored public health interventions, such as enhanced surveillance and targeted vaccination campaigns, in provinces where ILI incidence and mortality are highest. By concentrating resources and efforts in these high-risk areas, it may be possible to more effectively manage and control ILI outbreaks.