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Research

Informing Resource Allocation for Investment in Early Childhood: A Review of the International Peer-Reviewed Evidence

Early childhood investment decisions represent critical policy frameworks that ideally reflect a strong evidence base. This review seeks to assess early childhood intervention priorities based on return on investment without limitation by health, education or social science sector.

Research

Developing an Online Tool to Promote Safe Sun Behaviors With Young Teenagers as Co-researchers

Despite education about the risks of excessive sun exposure, teenagers in Australia are sun-seeking, with sunburn common in summer. Conversely, some regular (time-limited) exposure to sunlight (that avoids sunburn) is necessary for vitamin D and healthy bones and other molecules important for immune and metabolic health. New interventions are thus required to better support teenagers to make healthy and balanced decisions about their sun behaviors.

Research

Use of administrative record linkage to examine patterns of universal early childhood health and education service use from birth to Kindergarten (age 4 years) and developmental vulnerability in the Preparatory Year (age 5 years) in Tasmania, Australia

In Australia, the health and education sectors provide universal early childhood services for the same population of children. Therefore, there is a strong imperative to view service use and outcomes through a cross-sectoral lens to better understand and address the service needs of young children and their families.

Research

Parental Perspectives on Children’s School Readiness: An Ethnographic Study

School readiness is a construct used by educators and policy makers to describe a range of abilities that are beneficial for children transitioning to school. The association of socioeconomic disadvantage with developmental vulnerability when children start school is well established. Parents play a crucial role in supporting children’s transition to school and are acknowledged as their child’s first and foremost teacher.

Research

Antimicrobial susceptibility testing profiles of ESBL-producing Enterobacterales isolated from hospital and community adult patients in Blantyre, Malawi

There is a paucity of data on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Malawi. Here we present a study of AMR of extended-spectrum β-lactamases-producing Enterobacterales (ESBL-E) isolated from hospital and community settings in Blantyre, Malawi.

Research

International links between Streptococcus pneumoniae vaccine serotype 4 sequence type (ST) 801 in Northern European shipyard outbreaks of invasive pneumococcal disease

Pneumococcal disease outbreaks of vaccine preventable serotype 4 sequence type (ST)801 in shipyards have been reported in several countries. We aimed to use genomics to establish any international links between them.

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Quantifying the effectiveness of betaherpesvirus-vectored transmissible vaccines

Transmissible vaccines have the potential to revolutionize how zoonotic pathogens are controlled within wildlife reservoirs. A key challenge that must be overcome is identifying viral vectors that can rapidly spread immunity through a reservoir population.

Research

4CMenB vaccine and its role in preventing transmission and inducing herd immunity

Vaccination is the most effective method of protecting people from invasive meningococcal disease (IMD). Of all the capsular groups, B is the most common cause of invasive meningococcal disease in many parts of the world. Despite this, adolescent meningococcal B vaccine programs have not been implemented globally, partly due to the lack of evidence for herd immunity afforded by meningococcal B vaccines.

Research

Magic Hats and Teddy Bear picnics: Language and visuospatial lateralisation tasks for children

The behavioural outcomes associated with atypical cerebral lateralization during the early stages of cognitive development is an interesting research venture. However, there are few tasks for assessing lateralization in young children. The current study describes the Magic Hat task and the Teddy Bear Picnic task, which were designed to measure the lateralization of language and visuospatial attention, respectively, in children as young as three years old.

Research

Understanding Current Staff Experiences, Practices and Needs in Supporting Young People with Neurodevelopmental Disorders in the Queensland Youth Justice System

Young people with neurodevelopmental disorders are overrepresented in the youth justice system and face many disadvantages due to their impairments. The current study investigated what factors predict and contribute to the behavior of youth justice professionals working in the Queensland (QLD) youth justice system, utilizing a behavior change wheel framework.