What’s driving post-pandemic university student engagement? Findings from a design faculty

Situated within the many post-pandemic questions around patterns of student engagement and student choice, this paper explores the topic of why university students choose to attend campus on a day-to-day basis. This work builds on recent inquiry into the purpose of campus within broader narratives of university life, including notions of being a student and belonging to one’s institution. It is also positioned within student experience scholarship, which broadly engages with the complexities of delivering high-quality tertiary education to diverse student cohorts. Using student engagement as a conceptual lens, this paper reports on a study of twenty students within an Australia-based faculty of design. Semi-structured interviews explored how students engage with their studies and the faculty, including the factors influencing their ongoing decisions around when and why to come to campus, stay and leave. Findings underscore the importance of environmental quality and atmosphere, as well as meaningful social connections, for driving on-campus engagement. The study also suggests that, whilst the push towards flexibility has granted students the ability to manage how, where and when they engage, this may also come with risks like feelings of disconnection. In addition to making an empirical contribution to student experience and student engagement scholarship, the focus on a single, multi-disciplinary faculty is meant to prompt reflection on the relative benefits for approaching student experience at this particular scale

What Do Young People Say about Their Education?: Voices of School Leavers in Australia

This report examines the schooling experiences of a cohort of young people who completed secondary school in Australia at the end of 2023. The results show: • The majority of participants (60%) were positive about their education, stating that they were either somewhat or very satisfied with it. • While reflecting on their education many participants identified their teachers, wider school environment and sense of school connectedness as key determinants of their satisfaction. • Reviewing the participants’ open text comments revealed two areas of consensus: 1) that education was important, and 2) that Australian school education needs to change. • The participants identified several areas in which they felt that change was needed. They included: a perceived misalignment between what they expect the current Australian education system to do and what it actually does, the stress and pressure experienced by young people, and the lack of opportunities for students to be heard and consulted with in relation to their education. • We find that the critiques that our participants made of the Australian education system broadly align with some existing critiques in the literature

Chemical Genetics of P. falciparum Plasmepsin V, Plasmepsin X, and Cytochrome b

© 2025 Wenyin SuMalaria is caused by the Plasmodium parasite and results in about 600,000 deaths worldwide annually. The emergence of resistance against almost all antimalarial drugs has now become an obstacle to eliminating the disease. To address the issue, there is an urgent need for the discovery and development of new antimalarials with novel mechanisms of action. In this thesis, complementary forward and reverse genetics, and chemo-proteomic techniques were applied to characterise the mechanism of action (MoA) and explore resistance factors of three antimalarial classes. Plasmepsin V (PMV) is an aspartyl protease that is essential for processing the N-terminal PEXEL motif of proteins licensing them for export to the host red blood cell during the asexual segment of malaria parasite’s life cycle. Small molecule peptidomimetics mimicking the PEXEL motif have been previously developed as potent inhibitors of PMV. The peptidomimetics have been shown to block protein export and kill the malaria parasite, although confirmation of their on-target activity was required. In Chapter 2, resistance selection and genome sequencing revealed a mutation in PMV. Reverse genetics was then used to reverse engineer parasites to confirm the mutation in PMV. Biased and unbiased chemo-proteomics were then applied to demonstrate on-target engagement of PMV in P. falciparum parasites, definitively showing that the peptidomimetics kill the parasite by targeting PMV. Plasmepsin X (PMX) is an aspartyl protease that is vital for the maturation of proteins that enable the malaria parasite to enter and exit from the host red blood cell. Small molecules with an imino pyrimidinone chemotype have been developed as inhibitors of PMX that potently block red blood cell invasion and egress preventing asexual stage parasite development. Resistance selection using imino pyrimidinone inhibitors was previously performed to understand the risk of resistance in the field. In Chapter 3, parasites were genetically reversed engineered to confirm and investigate the mutations and amplifications in PMX responsible for the resistance observed. To uncover new starting points for antimalarial development, a phenotypic screen of the Janssen Jumpstarter library against the asexual stage parasite uncovered the cyclopropyl carboxamide hit class. In Chapter 4, forward genetics was used to identify the MoA of the hit class. Genome sequencing of cyclopropyl carboxamide-resistant parasites revealed mutations in the Qo site of cytochrome b, which is an essential component of the mitochondrial electron transport chain. Cytochrome b was confirmed as the molecular target by evaluating cyclopropyl carboxamide analogs against cytochrome b resistant parasite lines, and in a mitochondrial functional assay supporting this antimalarial class targeting cytochrome b. The investigation of the mechanisms of action of the three antimalarial classes undertaken in this thesis will assist in better understanding the role of the target proteins in parasite survival and resistance to facilitate the future development of these antimalarial classes

Causes of mortality in koalas autopsied at the University of Melbourne

Objective: To determine the causes of mortality in koalas autopsied at the University of Melbourne based on the retrospective analysis of autopsy reports. Methods: The autopsy reports of 239 koalas examined at the University of Melbourne from 1970 to 2023 were reviewed to determine which of the comorbidities present was the primary cause to which death could be attributed. Results: Infectious disease (62 cases) including presumptive chlamydiosis (38 cases), emaciation (38 cases) and trauma (35) were the leading cause of mortality. Death was attributed to other causes in 89 cases, whereas the cause was not definitively determined in 39. Twenty-six different causes of death were identified overall. Presumptive chlamydiosis was the greatest single disease to cause mortality, primarily due to the increased likelihood of leading to euthanasia. Traumatic causes included motor vehicle accidents (16 cases), animal attacks (all from dogs; 5 cases) and malicious acts (1 case). Emaciation resulting in death was attributed to senescence (9), sarcoptic mange (7), starvation (6) and dental disease (6). Sarcoptic mange caused mortality, with or without emaciation, in 16 cases. There was one case each of congenital abdominal hernia, cardiomyopathy, burns and ivermectin toxicosis, and two of oxalate nephropathy. Neoplasms were the cause of mortality in 12 koalas and included five female reproductive tract neoplasms and, importantly, only two lymphomas, in contrast with previous studies in which lymphoma is the most prevalent neoplasm. Conclusion: This is the most comprehensive data analysis of mortality amongst Victorian koalas, and one of the few autopsy studies on koalas. Infectious disease including presumptive chlamydiosis, emaciation and trauma were the leading causes of mortality amongst koalas submitted for autopsy at this institution

IL-23 tunes inflammatory functions of human mucosal-associated invariant T cells

IL-23 signaling plays a key role in the pathogenesis of chronic inflammatory and infectious diseases, yet the cellular targets and signaling pathways affected by this cytokine remain poorly understood. We show that IL-23 receptors are expressed on the large majority of human mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT), but not of conventional T cells. Protein and transcriptional profiling at the population and single cell level demonstrates that stimulation with IL-23 or the structurally related cytokine IL-12 drives distinct functional profiles, revealing a high level of plasticity of MAIT cells. IL-23, in particular, affects key molecules and pathways related to autoimmunity and cytotoxic functions. Integrated analysis of transcriptomes and chromatin accessibility, supported by CRISPR-Cas9 mediated deletion, shows that AP-1 transcription factors constitute a key regulatory node of the IL-23 pathway in MAIT cells. In conclusion, our findings indicate that MAIT cells are key mediators of IL-23 functions in immunity to infections and chronic inflammatory diseases

Synthesis and Functional Development of Metal–Phenolic Network Films

© 2025 Tianzheng WangMetal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are of broad scientific and industrial interest due to their unique hybrid physicochemical properties arising from organic ligands and metal ions. The structural characteristics of organic ligands—whether flexible or rigid—significantly influence their coordination networks, thereby determining MOF morphologies, properties, and applications. Amorphous MOFs typically derived from flexible ligands, offer versatile substrate-coating capabilities but often exhibit limited control over morphologies, pore sizes, and thickness. In contrast, crystalline MOFs fabricated from rigid ligands possess well-defined pore structures, while their coating compatibility with diverse substrates is often restricted. This thesis focuses on precisely engineering MOF properties and functions by integrating amorphous and crystalline coordination networks, specifically by developing novel metal-phenolic networks (MPNs) consisting of metal ions and natural phenolic ligands. First, a universal approach for crystalline MOF coating is developed by utilizing amorphous MPN interfaces, enabling controlled assembly on a wide variety of particle and planar substrates for different applications (e.g., gas separation). Second, a robust and versatile method for MPN film growth via liquid-liquid interfacial assembly is introduced, accommodating both flexible and rigid phenolic ligands. The resulting interfacial assembled MPN films exhibit tunable physicochemical properties (e.g., thickness and morphology), possess microporous structures, and can be integrated with diverse functional components (e.g., polymers and nanoparticles) to achieve desired properties (e.g., wettability, conductive, and antibacterial properties). Finally, a novel class of reversible conduction switching materials based on MPN films is discovered, which leverages thermally induced crystalline coordination networks with electronic correlations. These MPN films show ultrahigh resistivity in the insulating state but relatively high Hall mobility in the conductive state, along with tunable transition temperatures and scalable production capability. Collectively, these studies provide insights into the interplay between amorphous and crystalline coordination networks, advance MPN assembly strategies, and expand their potential applications across multiple fields, including environmental science, materials science, and electronics

The relationship between ON–OFF function and OCT structural and angiographic parameters in early diabetic retinal disease

PURPOSE: This study measured associations between ON and OFF functional indicators and structural optical coherence tomography (OCT) and OCT angiography (OCTA) markers in diabetic retinal disease. METHODS: Fifty-four participants with type 1 or type 2 diabetes (mean age = 34.1 years; range 18-60) and 48 age-matched controls (mean age = 35.4 years, range 18-59) underwent visual psychophysical testing, OCT and OCTA retinal imaging. Psychophysical tasks measuring (A) contrast increment and decrement sensitivity and (B) response times to increment and decrement targets were assessed as surrogate measures of ON and OFF retinal ganglion cell function. RESULTS: The group with diabetes had worse foveal contrast increment and decrement thresholds (p = 0.04) and were slower to search for increment and decrement targets relative to controls (p = 0.009). Individuals with diabetes had a less circular foveal avascular zone (FAZ) (p < 0.001) but did not differ from controls in foveal vessel density and FAZ area. Functional and structural outcome measures related to the peripheral retina were also comparable between those with and without diabetes. Functional responses to increments and decrements were not significantly correlated with FAZ circularity or vessel density in individuals with diabetes. CONCLUSIONS: Diabetic retinal disease results in impaired performance on measures of inferred ON and OFF pathway function in addition to vascular deficits measurable with OCTA. Future longitudinal studies may determine the temporal relationship between these deficits, and whether they predict future diabetic retinopathy

A Second-Generation (44-Channel) Suprachoroidal Retinal Prosthesis: A Single-Arm Clinical Trial of Feasibility

PURPOSE: To assess the feasibility of a second-generation (44-channel) suprachoroidal retinal prosthesis for provision of functional vision in recipients with end-stage retinitis pigmentosa (RP) over 2.7 years. DESIGN: Prospective, single-arm, unmasked interventional clinical trial. PARTICIPANTS: Four participants, with advanced RP and bare-light perception vision. METHODS: The 44-channel suprachoroidal retinal prosthesis was implanted in the worse-seeing eye. Device stability, functionality, and adverse events were investigated at approximately 12-week intervals up to 140 weeks (2.7 years) postdevice activation. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Serious adverse event (SAE) reporting, visual response outcomes, functional vision outcomes, and quality-of-life outcomes. RESULTS: All 4 participants (aged 39-66 years, 3 males) were successfully implanted in 2018, and there were no device-related SAEs over the duration of the study. A mild postoperative subretinal hemorrhage was detected in 2 recipients, which cleared spontaneously within 2 weeks. OCT confirmed device stability and position under the macula. Improvements in localization abilities were demonstrated for all 4 participants in screen-based, tabletop, and orientation and mobility tasks. In addition, 3 of 4 participants recorded improvements in motion discrimination and 2 of 4 participants recorded substantial improvements in spatial discrimination and identification of tabletop objects. Participants reported their unsupervised use of the device included exploring new environments, detecting people, and safely navigating around obstacles. A positive effect of the implant on participants' daily lives in their local environments was confirmed by an orientation and mobility assessor and participant self-report. Emotional well-being was not impacted by device implantation or usage. CONCLUSIONS: The completed clinical study demonstrates that the suprachoroidal prosthesis raises no safety concerns and provides improvements in functional vision, activities of daily living, and observer-rated quality of life. FINANCIAL DISCLOSURES: Proprietary or commercial disclosure may be found in the Footnotes and Disclosures at the end of this article

Cultivar-specific wheat-associated bacterial communities and metabolites in response to nitrogen deficiency

Background and Aims: Nitrogen (N) deficiency in soil constrains plant growth, which beneficial soil bacterial communities may potentially alleviate. However, there is limited knowledge of the plant-bacteria interactions of wheat cultivars with different N-use efficiency (NUE) under N deficiency. Methods: We investigated the responses of soil and root endosphere bacterial communities as well as root metabolites of two wheat cultivars (cv. Mace and Gladius) with reported high and low NUE, respectively, using a glasshouse experiment and a hydroponic experiment with three N levels. Results: The rhizosphere bacterial community of Mace shifted under N deficiency but not in its root endosphere. Conversely, the rhizosphere bacterial community of Gladius remained unchanged under N deficiency but shifted in its root endosphere. The metagenomic analysis illustrated increased detection of genes related to bacterial growth and motility in the rhizosphere of Mace, but not of Gladius, under N deficiency. A four-fold increase in octadecanoic acid in the root of Mace, but not Gladius, under N deficiency, suggesting the potential role of octadecanoic acid in shaping the rhizobacterial community in Mace with higher reported NUE. Conclusion: Our study highlights the divergent responses of wheat-associated microorganisms and root metabolites to N deficiency in the two cultivars. We found that wheat cultivars with higher NUE increased octadecanoic acid secretion, potentially shaping the rhizobacterial communities and enhancing their growth under N-limited conditions

Costs and Benefits of the Melbourne Mobile Stroke Unit Compared with Standard Ambulance: Causal Analysis Using Observational Linked Data

BACKGROUND: Evidence of the cost implications and health outcomes associated with the use of mobile stroke units (MSU) is required to support their utilization. We aimed to evaluate the causal effect of the use of an MSU compared with a standard ambulance on hospitalization costs and 90- to 180-day health outcomes. METHODS: Causal effect estimation was performed using patient-level data from a cohort of patients with stroke in 2018 identified from the Australian Stroke Clinical Registry (Victoria) and Melbourne MSU. These data were linked to Ambulance Victoria and government-held administrative data sets. In total, linked data from 8657 patients were available. Propensity score matching was used to define comparator groups within a target trial framework. Costs included emergency department and hospital admission costs in the first 180 days after stroke. Multivariable regression analyses of the matched data were used to compare costs and outcomes (mortality and modified Rankin Scale) between MSU and standard ambulance groups. RESULTS: The target trial sample included 96 patients transported by the MSU (intervention) and 198 patients transported by standard ambulance services (control). Of these, the mean age was 76 years and 157 (53%) were men. A greater proportion of patients received mechanical thrombectomy in the intervention group than the control group (40% versus 23%; P<0.001). The adjusted hospital costs were $17 949 greater in the intervention group than the control group (95$4682-$31 214; P=0.01). Patients in intervention group doubled the odds of achieving nondisability (modified Rankin Scale scores of 0-1, adjusted odds ratio of 2.11 [95% CI, 1.07-4.18]) and halved the mortality rate (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.53 [95% CI, 0.32-0.86]) within 90 to 180 days poststroke compared with the control group. CONCLUSIONS: There are important cost implications and improved outcomes from using the MSU that are likely related to increased provision of reperfusion therapy