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Research
Circulating Epithelial Cell Cytokines Are Associated With Early-Onset Atopic DermatitisDebbie Susan Palmer Prescott BSc BND PhD MBBS BMedSci PhD FRACP Head, Nutrition in Early Life Honorary Research Fellow debbie.palmer@uwa.edu.au
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Comparing Web-Based Mindfulness With Loving-Kindness and Compassion Training for Promoting Well-Being in Pregnancy: Protocol for a Three-Arm Pilot Randomized Controlled TrialPromoting psychological well-being and preventing distress among pregnant women is an important public health goal. In addition to adversely impacting the mother's health and well-being, psychological distress in pregnancy increases the risk of poor pregnancy outcomes, compromises infant socioemotional development and bonding, and heightens maternal and child vulnerability in the postpartum period. Mindfulness and compassion-based interventions show potential for prevention and early intervention for perinatal distress.
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In “high-risk” infants with sufficient vitamin d status at birth, infant vitamin D supplementation had no effect on allergy outcomes: A randomized controlled trialEarly infancy oral vitamin D supplementation does not appear to reduce the development of early childhood allergic disease
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Validation of monoclonal anti-PKC isozyme antibodies for flow cytometry analyses in human T cell subsets and expression in cord blood T cellsWe have undertaken to validating the specificity of commercially available antibodies marketed for flow cytometry to measure PKCα, βI, βII, δ, ε, η, θ, ζ, ι/λ and μ
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The Flourishing Child: Understanding how Adults and Children Perceive Flourishing from the Start of LifeThe current narrative surrounding children’s health and wellbeing often focuses on adversity and dysregulation with a lack of positive messaging. However, promoting protective and buffering factors may be as important as reducing adverse exposures. While the concept of flourishing is commonly applied in the context of adults, defining what flourishing means for children in current academic literature remains unclear.
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Urinary Ferritin as a Noninvasive Means of Assessing Iron Status in Young ChildrenIron deficiency (ID) is the most common nutritional deficiency affecting young children. Serum ferritin concentration is the preferred biomarker for measuring iron status because it reflects iron stores; however, blood collection can be distressing for young children and can be logistically difficult. A noninvasive means to measure iron status would be attractive to either diagnose or screen for ID in young children.
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Beyond Plants: The Ultra-Processing of Global Diets Is Harming the Health of People, Places, and PlanetGlobal food systems are a central issue for personal and planetary health in the Anthropocene. One aspect of major concern is the dramatic global spread of ultra-processed convenience foods in the last 75 years, which is linked with the rising human burden of disease and growing sustainability and environmental health challenges.
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The ORIGINS Project Biobank: A Collaborative Bio Resource for Investigating the Developmental Origins of Health and DiseaseEarly onset Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), including obesity, allergies, and mental ill-health in childhood, present a serious and increasing threat to lifelong health and longevity. The ORIGINS Project (ORIGINS) addresses the urgent need for multidisciplinary efforts to understand the detrimental multisystem impacts of modern environments using well-curated large-scale longitudinal biological sample collections.
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PKC activation promotes maturation of cord blood T cells towards a Th1 IFN-γ propensityA significant number of babies present transiently with low protein kinase C zeta (PKCζ) levels in cord blood T cells, associated with reduced ability to transition from a neonatal Th2 to a mature Th1 cytokine bias, leading to a higher risk of developing allergic sensitisation, compared to neonates whose T cells have 'normal' PKCζ levels. However, the importance of PKCζ signalling in regulating their differentiation from a Th2 to a Th1 cytokine phenotype propensity remains undefined.
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Gene dysregulation in acute HIV-1 infection – early transcriptomic analysis reveals the crucial biological functions affectedTranscriptomic analyses from early human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection have the potential to reveal how HIV causes widespread and lasting damage to biological functions, especially in the immune system. Previous studies have been limited by difficulties in obtaining early specimens.