There has been a global increase in the burden of invasive infections in people who inject drugs (PWID). It is essential that patient-centred multidisciplinary care is provided in the management of these infections to engage PWID in care and deliver evidence-based management and preventive strategies. The multidisciplinary team should include infectious diseases, addictions medicine (inclusive of alcohol and other drug services), surgery, psychiatry, pain specialists, pharmacy, nursing staff, social work and peer support workers (where...

Almost 50% of Australians experience mental illness in their lifetime, costing our economy up to A$220 billion annually, according to pre-pandemic figures.

A thesis submitted in total fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree to the Department of Social Inquiry, La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia.

The phrase ‘never let a good crisis go to waste’ is often (mis)attributed to Winston Churchill. It expresses the common perception that the sentiments evoked by crisis can be used to manipulate power relations and strategically reposition influence. Although crises can arise from tangible, objectively catastrophic external events, governmental responses to crises are accompanied by processes of framing—construction, interpretation, and communication to the community subject to governance. The framing and management of crises can contribute...

Background: Community-based doulas share the same cultural, linguistic, ethnic backgrounds or social experiences as the women they support. Community-based doulas may be able to bridge gaps for migrant and refugee women in maternity settings in high-income countries (HICs). The aim of this review was to explore key stakeholders' perceptions and experiences of community-based doula programmes for migrant and refugee women during labour and birth in HICs, and identify factors affecting implementation and sustainability of such...

© 2020, © 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Optimizing intensity for aphasia treatment is a high priority research issue for people with aphasia, their families and clinicians, and could result in healthcare cost savings. An important aspect of intensity is the frequency of intervention, or how regularly treatment should be provided each week. While principles of neuroplasticity endorse massed practice, cognitive psychology has established superiority of distributed practice within normal...

To achieve herd immunity to a disease, a large portion of the population needs to be vaccinated, which is possible only when there is broad acceptance of the vaccine within the community. Thus, policymakers need to understand how the general public will perceive the vaccine. This study focused on the degree of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and refusal and explored sociodemographic correlations that influence vaccine hesitancy and refusal. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among the...

Objective: To provide a review of prediction models that have been used to measure clinical or pathological progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Design: Scoping review. Data sources: Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL and Scopus from the year 2011 to 17th February 2022. Study selection: All English written studies that are published in peer-reviewed journals in any country, that developed at least a statistical or computational model that predicted the risk of CKD progression. Data extraction: Eligible...

Research on how shareholders influence the interests of stakeholders has proliferated in recent years, at pace with the active debate on the merits of “stakeholder capitalism.” This research has sought to unpack: (1) the types of shareholders that affect stakeholder-relevant firm outcomes, (2) the mechanisms through which shareholders exert their influence on stakeholders’ interests, (3) the types of stakeholders that are influenced by shareholders, and (4) the factors that moderate the influence of shareholders on...

Submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Victoria.

Undecylenic acid, a monounsaturated fatty acid, is currently in clinical use as a topical antifungal agent, however the potential for therapeutic application in other disease settings has not been investigated. In this study, we describe a novel platform for the solubilization of fatty acids using amino acids and utilize this approach to define a tumoricidal activity and underlying mechanism for undecylenic acid. We examined a novel formulation of undecylenic acid compounded with L-Arginine, called GS-1,...

Chtop (chromatin target of Prmt1) regulates various aspects of gene expression including transcription and mRNA export. Despite these important functions, the regulatory mechanism underlying Chtop expression remains undetermined. Using Chtop-expressing human cell lines, we demonstrate that Chtop expression is controlled via an autoregulatory negative feedback loop whereby Chtop binds its own mRNA to retain intron 2 during splicing; a premature termination codon present at the 5' end of intron 2 leads to nonsense-mediated decay of...

This dissertation is submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the Department of Computer Science and Information Technology, School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia.

The transition from military to civilian life is often challenging for veterans. International research shows higher education to be an important pathway that can help veterans navigate this change and improve their psycho-social wellbeing and career prospects. In this article, we examine how student veterans are being recognised and supported in the Australian higher education context. Our research finds the range of governmental and institutional support for student veterans to be limited, and in contrast...

A thesis submitted in total fulfilment for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia.

To determine gait aid use and decision-making related to usage in people with dementia, and examine factors influencing (1) gait aid use or not; and (2) falls in past year. A survey of informal carers of older people with dementia in the community. Closed questions on gait aid use, falls, timing and sources of gait aid acquisition, and advice received to support use were used. Chi-squared tests (Fisher’s Exact) compared: (1) gait aid users vs...

Grasslands are among the most endangered ecosystems, with <1% of Victorian grasslands remaining. Extinctions of many grassland fauna species have occurred since European settlement due to loss of suitable habitat, and dramatic range reductions continue for those that still exist. Fat-tailed dunnarts (Sminthopsis crassicaudata) are the only small ground-dwelling marsupial known to persist in Victorian grassland habitats. The last long-term targeted surveys for this species were conducted in Victoria in the 1970s. Incidental findings from...

The Diabetes and Antenatal Milk Expressing (DAME) randomised controlled trial (RCT) was conducted in 2011–2015, at six sites in Melbourne, Australia to explore the effect of advising women with diabetes in pregnancy to express breast milk from 36 weeks gestation. Infants whose mothers were randomised to express in pregnancy were more likely to be exclusively breast milk fed during their hospital stay, and there was no evidence of harm. This paper explores women's views and...

No description supplied

Survey responses from a sample of nearly 15,000 Australian sports fans were used to study the determinants of: (i) gambling behaviour, including if a person does gamble and the type of gambling engaged with; (ii) the number of sports and non-sports bets made over a 12-month period; and (iii) attitudes towards betting on sports. The probability of betting on sports decreased with increasing age and was lower for women and people with a university education....

Supplement 1

Supplement 1

Background: This study aims to examine the prevalence and predictors associated with self-medication, and related consequences in Wuhan, China. Methods: Two-hundred-sixty residents were interviewed from randomly selected four districts of Wuhan, China. A modified version of Anderson’s health behavioral model was used in the survey to collect information of self-medication behavior. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to measure correlates of the prevalence of self-medication. Results: Nearly half of the respondents would select self-medication, and...

Background: This study aims to examine the prevalence and predictors associated with self-medication, and related consequences in Wuhan, China. Methods: Two-hundred-sixty residents were interviewed from randomly selected four districts of Wuhan, China. A modified version of Anderson’s health behavioral model was used in the survey to collect information of self-medication behavior. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to measure correlates of the prevalence of self-medication. Results: Nearly half of the respondents would select self-medication, and...

MiR-21 was identified as a gene whose expression correlated with the extent of metastasis of murine mammary tumours. Since miR-21 is recognised as being associated with poor prognosis in cancer, we investigated its contribution to mammary tumour growth and metastasis in tumours with capacity for spontaneous metastasis. Unexpectedly, we found that suppression of miR-21 activity in highly metastatic tumours resulted in regression of primary tumour growth in immunocompetent mice but did not impede growth in...