Sex and gender reporting in Australian health and medical research publications.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine how sex and gender are being incorporated into Australian medical research publications and if this is influenced by journals endorsing the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) guidelines, which contain criteria for sex and gender reporting. METHODS: Analysis of original research articles published in Australia's top 10 medical journals in 2020. RESULTS: From the 10 leading journals, 1,136 articles were eligible for analysis, including 990 human participant populations. Sex and/or gender were reported for 873 (88.2%) human populations, with 480 using conflicting terminology. Only 14 (1.6%) described how sex and gender were determined. The primary outcome, or key aim, was stratified by sex and/or gender for 249 (29.2%) participant groups and the influence of sex and/or gender on the results was discussed for only 171 (17.3%). There was no significant association between endorsement of the ICMJE guidelines and adherence to any sex and gender criteria. CONCLUSIONS: Sex and gender are poorly incorporated into Australian medical research publications and was not improved by journals endorsing the ICMJE guidelines. IMPLICATIONS FOR PUBLIC HEALTH: Reporting and analysis of sex and gender data in health research in Australian medical journals requires improvement, for better health for all.

Contextualising sex and gender research to improve women's health: An early- and mid-career researcher perspective.

The field of sex and gender research in health and medicine is growing, and many early- and mid-career researchers (EMCRs) are developing skills in this area. As EMCRs specialising in sex and gender research, we aim to better understand sex- and gender-based determinants of human health, challenge long-standing and pervasive gender biases, and contribute to improving the evidence base upon which clinical guidelines and policy interventions are developed. To effectively achieve these goals, we believe that EMCRs would benefit from understanding the challenges of working in this space and participate in driving change in three key areas. First, in creating greater links between the goals of sex and gender research and addressing systemic bias against women and gender minorities, to effectively translate knowledge about sex and gender differences into improved health outcomes. Second, in expanding the reach of sex and gender research to address women's health in an intersectional way and ensure that it also benefits the health of men, transgender and gender-diverse people and those who are intersex. Third, in working with others in the scientific community to improve methods for sex and gender research, including updating data collection practises, ensuring appropriate statistical analyses and shifting scientific culture to recognise the importance of null findings. By improving focus on these three areas, we see greater potential to translate this research to improve women's health and reduce health inequities for all.

Does Journal Content in the Field of Women's Health Represent Women's Burden of Disease? A Review of Publications in 2010 and 2020.

Background: Historically, women's health has focused on reproductive health. However, noncommunicable and communicable diseases comprise much of the burden of disease in women. Methods: A quantitative analysis of the main health content of articles published in six women's health journals (WHJ) and five general medical journals (GMJ) in 2010 and 2020 was conducted to categorize the main medical area topics of published articles and the life stage under study. Findings were compared with the leading causes of disease in women according to the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study. Results: There were 1483 articles eligible for analysis. In total, in WHJ, 44% of topics were reproductive health, increasing from 36% in 2010 to 49% in 2020, which was similar to GMJ. Noncommunicable disease was the next most addressed topic, with cancer being the major disease area covered. When compared with the GBD study, major disease areas such as infectious disease, cardiovascular disease, and musculoskeletal disorders were underrepresented as topics in women's health publications. Most articles that focused on a particular life stage were on pregnancy or the reproductive years, with very few articles on menopause. Conclusion: Women's health publishing remains largely focused on reproductive health topics, with few articles on many of the major causes of morbidity and mortality in women. Journals, researchers, funders, and research priority setters should embrace a broader view of women's health to effectively cover content that reflects the broad range of health issues impacting women across the life span.

Sex and Gender in COVID-19 Vaccine Research: Substantial Evidence Gaps Remain.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic there has been a global call for sex/gender-disaggregated data to be made available, which has uncovered important findings about COVID-19 testing, incidence, severity, hospitalisations, and deaths. This mini review scopes the evidence base for efficacy, effectiveness, and safety of COVID-19 vaccines from both experimental and observational research, and asks whether (1) women and men were equally recruited and represented in vaccine research, (2) the outcomes of studies were presented or analysed by sex and/or gender, and (3) there is evidence of sex and/or gender differences in outcomes. Following a PubMed search, 41 articles were eligible for inclusion, including seven randomised controlled trials (RCTs), 11 cohort studies, eight cross-sectional surveys, eight routine surveillance studies, and seven case series. Overall, the RCTs contained equal representation of women and men; however, the observational studies contained a higher percentage of women. Of 10 studies with efficacy data, only three (30%) presented sex/gender-disaggregated results. Safety data was included in 35 studies and only 12 (34%) of these presented data by sex/gender. For those that did present disaggregated data, overall, the majority of participants reporting adverse events were women. There is a paucity of reporting and analysis of COVID-19 vaccine data by sex/gender. Research should be designed in a gender-sensitive way to present and, where possible analyse, data by sex/gender to ensure that there is a robust and specific evidence base of efficacy and safety data to assist in building public confidence and promote high vaccine coverage.

Phosphate functionalised titania for heavy metal removal from acidic sulfate solutions.

Adsorbent materials based on titania and phosphate are ideal for treatment of solutions contaminated with heavy metals under acidic conditions, due to their inherent chemical stability and low pKa. Herein, phosphate functionalised titania has been investigated for the first time for removal of heavy metals (Cr, Fe, Cu, Eu, U) under conditions relevant to acid mine drainage (pH 2-5 sulfuric acid). Successful functionalisation was found to depend on the phase of titania used, with anatase preferred according to computational results from density functional theory. The effect of phosphate ligand structure was explored, revealing that the phosphate ethyl ester maximised heavy metal removal. The presence and concentration of counterions (sulfate, nitrate, ammonium) also impacted the speciation and binding of heavy metal cations, demonstrating the importance of adsorbent testing under realistic conditions. Increasing the porosity of the titania framework enhanced heavy metal removal, while maintaining selectivity for the toxic heavy metals over non-toxic cations Na and K. As such, phosphate functionalised titania shows great promise for heavy metal remediation in acidic sulfate environments.

Design, synthesis and evaluation of carbamate-linked uridyl-based inhibitors of human ST6Gal I.

Sialic acid at the terminus of cell surface glycoconjugates is a critical element in cell-cell recognition, receptor binding and immune responses. Sialyltransferases (ST), the enzymes responsible for the biosynthesis of sialylated glycans are highly upregulated in cancer and the resulting hypersialylation of the tumour cell surface correlates strongly with tumour growth, metastasis and drug resistance. Inhibitors of human STs, in particular human ST6Gal I, are thus expected to be valuable chemical tools for the discovery of novel anticancer drugs. Herein, we report on the computationally-guided design and development of uridine-based inhibitors that replace the charged phosphodiester linker of known ST inhibitors with a neutral carbamate to improve pharmacokinetic properties and synthetic accessibility. A series of 24 carbamate-linked uridyl-based compounds were synthesised by coupling aryl and hetaryl α-hydroxyphosphonates with a 5'-amino-5'-deoxyuridine fragment. The inhibitory activities of the newly synthesised compounds against recombinant human ST6Gal I were determined using a luminescent microplate assay, and five promising inhibitors with Ki's ranging from 1 to 20 µM were identified. These results show that carbamate-linked uridyl-based compounds are a potential new class of readily accessible, non-cytotoxic ST inhibitors to be further explored.