David Morrison

It has recently come to our attention that our JPR-published manuscript that is part of the “Proteomics in Pandemic Disease” special issue contains a transcription error. Specifically, the mass spectrometry-derived indices of Table 1 are column-swapped, indicating inverse group associations that are conflicting with the descriptions provided in the results and discussion section of the manuscript. The corrected table is below. The table revision has no impact on the biological interpretation of the data.

Accordingly, in the following sentence in the Abstract, the word “elevated” has been corrected to “reduced”:

“There was also an abnormal lipoprotein, glucose, and amino acid signature consistent with diabetes and coronary artery disease (low total and HDL Apolipoprotein A1, low HDL triglycerides, high LDL and VLDL triglycerides), plus multiple highly significant amino acid markers of liver dysfunction (including the reduced glutamine/glutamate and Fischer’s ratios) that present themselves as part of a distinct SARS-CoV-2 infection pattern.”

The metabolic effects of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection on human blood plasma were characterized using multiplatform metabolic phenotyping with nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Quantitative measurements of lipoprotein subfractions, α-1-acid glycoprotein, glucose, and biogenic amines were made on samples from symptomatic coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) patients who had tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus (n = 17) and from age- and gender-matched controls (n = 25). Data were analyzed using an orthogonal-projections to latent structures (OPLS) method and used to construct an exceptionally strong (AUROC = 1) hybrid NMR-MS model that enabled detailed metabolic discrimination between the groups and their biochemical relationships. Key discriminant metabolites included markers of inflammation including elevated α-1-acid glycoprotein and an increased kynurenine/tryptophan ratio. There was also an abnormal lipoprotein, glucose, and amino acid signature consistent with diabetes and coronary artery disease (low total and HDL Apolipoprotein A1, low HDL triglycerides, high LDL and VLDL triglycerides), plus multiple highly significant amino acid markers of liver dysfunction (including the elevated glutamine/glutamate and Fischer’s ratios) that present themselves as part of a distinct SARS-CoV-2 infection pattern. A multivariate training-test set model was validated using independent samples from additional SARS-CoV-2 positive patients and controls. The predictive model showed a sensitivity of 100% for SARS-CoV-2 positivity. The breadth of the disturbed pathways indicates a systemic signature of SARS-CoV-2 positivity that includes elements of liver dysfunction, dyslipidemia, diabetes, and coronary heart disease risk that are consistent with recent reports that COVID-19 is a systemic disease affecting multiple organs and systems. Metabolights study reference: MTBLS2014.

To motivate residents to evacuate early in case of a wildfire threat, it is important to know what factors underlie their response-related decision-making. The current paper examines the role of the value and expectancy tied to potential outcomes of defending vs evacuating on awareness of a community fire threat. A scenario study among 339 Western Australians revealed that residents intending to leave immediately on awareness of a community fire threat differ from those not intending to leave immediately in both value and expectancy. For one, intended leavers were more likely than those intending to defend their property to have children. Also, the data showed a trend towards intended leavers being less likely to have livestock. Furthermore, intended leavers placed less importance on the survival of their property than those with other expressed intentions. They also reported lower expectancies regarding the likelihood of achieving positive outcomes by defending than those intending to defend or wait and see before deciding what to do. Finally, intended leavers perceived it more likely that they would avoid harm to their pets by evacuating than those intending to defend throughout or wait and see. These findings have important implications for strategies to influence residents’ response-related decision-making.

In the event of a wildfire, Australian residents of wildfire-prone areas have a choice to defend their home or evacuate early. However, rather than deciding on and preparing for one of these fire-responses ahead of time, most residents delay deciding on defending v. evacuating (e.g. they wait and see instead). Recent research has shown that delaying this decision is associated with reduced levels of preparedness for both responses and on the day of a fire, an increased risk to life and property. The current study empirically examined what predicts this decision delay regarding one’s fire-response by measuring two personality traits and several decision-related factors. A longitudinal survey study of residents of multiple wildfire-prone areas in Western Australia showed that the strongest predictor of delaying their decision to defend v. evacuate was a lack of difference in perceived values of defending v. evacuating. These findings have important implications for the design of interventions to reduce the risks associated with such delay. For one, agencies could utilise residents’ value base to reduce decision delay. Alternatively, they could focus on the formation of proper contingency plans and stress the necessity to prepare well for both defending and evacuating.

Past research suggests that indecisiveness and trait anxiety may both decrease the likelihood of performing risk-mitigating preparatory behaviors (e.g., preparing for natural hazards) and suggests two cognitive processes (perceived control and worrying) as potential mediators. However, no single study to date has examined the influence of these traits and processes together. Examining them simultaneously is necessary to gain an integrated understanding of their relationship with risk-mitigating behaviors. We therefore examined these traits and mediators in relation to wildfire preparedness in a two-wave field study among residents of wildfire-prone areas in Western Australia (total N = 223). Structural equation modeling results showed that indecisiveness uniquely predicted preparedness, with higher indecisiveness predicting lower preparedness. This relationship was fully mediated by perceived control over wildfire-related outcomes. Trait anxiety did not uniquely predict preparedness or perceived control, but it did uniquely predict worry, with higher trait anxiety predicting more worrying. Also, worry trended toward uniquely predicting preparedness, albeit in an unpredicted positive direction. This shows how the lack of performing risk-mitigating behaviors can result from distinct cognitive processes that are linked to distinct personality traits. It also highlights how simultaneous examination of multiple pathways to behavior creates a fuller understanding of its antecedents.

In an effort to reduce wildfire risk to community members, researchers and practitioners have sought to identify the factors that are most effective in motivating community members to engage in preparatory behaviours. Quantitative research in this area has been hampered, however, by a lack of consistency in, and validation of household wildfire preparedness assessments. Consequences have included a difficulty in comparing results across quantitative studies, a poor collective understanding of how existing preparedness assessments were developed and an inability to ascertain how specific preparedness actions are tied to householders' responses to wildfire. We propose to resolve these issues by (1) presenting a definition of wildfire preparedness for adoption as the standard in quantitative studies, (2) developing a typology of wildfire preparedness that distinguishes between household wildfire goals (i.e. safe evacuation, effective active defence and improving the fire resistance of a property in the absence of an active defender), (3) constructing two new standardised measures of preparedness and (4) undertaking a community survey to investigate the validity of the measures. The development of the new measures will facilitate the standardisation of future research into wildfire preparedness, while differentiating between types of preparedness, and is expected to yield practical benefits.

Background Personal, interpersonal and organisational factors have been suggested as possible causes of stress, anxiety and depression for veterinarians. We used established psychological scales to measure (1) levels of distress and work-related stress (anxiety and depression) and (2) the demographic and work characteristics of female veterinarians in relation to anxiety, depression and mental health. Methods A national cross-sectional survey of a cohort population was conducted and self-administered questionnaires were received from 1017 female veterinarians who completed the mental health section of the survey. Using linear and logistic regression analyses, we examined demographic and work-related factors associated with overall stress measured by the General Health Questionnaire scale and the Affective Well-Being scale (Anxiety-Contentment Axis and Depression-Enthusiasm Axis). Results More than one-third (37%) of the sample was suffering ‘minor psychological distress’, suggesting the stressful nature of veterinary practice. Women with two or more children had less anxiety and depression compared with those who had never been pregnant or were childless. Longer working hours were associated with increased anxiety and depression in female veterinarians overall and in stratified samples of women with and without children. Conclusion Among the work characteristics of veterinary practice, long working hours may have a direct effect on a veterinarian's health in terms of anxiety, depression and mental health. The finding also indicates that women with two or more children have less anxiety and depression than women who have never been pregnant or childless women.

Introduction: This study sought to determine the construct validity of two self-report measures of attitudes towards Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders against an implicit measure of attitude.

Method: Total of 102 volunteer participants completed the three measures in a randomized order. The explicit measures of prejudice towards Aboriginal Australians were the Modern Racism Scale (MRS) and the Attitudes Towards Indigenous Australians Scale (ATIAS). The implicit attitudes measure was an adaptation of the Implicit Association Test (IAT) and utilised simple drawn head-and-shoulder images of Aboriginal Australians and White Australians as the stimuli.

Results: Both explicit measures and implicit measure varied in the extent to which negative prejudicial attitudes were held by participants, and the corresponding construct validities were unimpressive. The MRS was significantly correlated with the IAT, (r=.314;p<.05) where the ATIAS was not significantly correlated with IAT scores (r=.12).

Conclusion: Of the two self-report measures of attitudes towards Aboriginal Australians, only the MRS evidenced validity when compared with the use of an implicit attitude measure.

This study examined the utility of morning recovery as a predictor of self-reported task performance, contextual performance and perceived workload, and sought to advance the literature on recovery and performance through the introduction of an objective measure of task performance. Twenty four university students completed a general survey at the commencement of their participation within the study, and then two daily surveys and a cognitive task over the course of one week. Hierarchical linear modeling showed recovery to be positively related to personal initiative above the contribution of person-level and day-level control variables. The hypothesized relationships between recovery and measures of task performance failed to be supported. These findings suggest that feeling recovered in the mornings is not only a pleasurable experience for the individual but may have repercussions for some aspects of work-related task and contextual performance throughout that day.

Objective: To use established psychological scales to measure levels of distress, anxiety and depression in veterinarians, and compare these levels between different veterinary subgroups and other professional groups. Methods: A cohort of veterinarians was identified through contact with veterinary schools in Australia. Participants completed a self-reporting questionnaire that included queries about general health and demographics, psychological well-being, job-specific perceptions of health, dispositional characteristics and social support. Results: Of the 2125 respondents who completed the psychological questionnaire, approximately one-third reported poor psychological health. Increasing age, increasing time in current job, increasing years since graduation and male gender was associated with fewer signs of distress, anxiety and depression. Compared with the general population, veterinarians experienced more negative emotions at work, but were similar to other professional groups. Conclusions: Poor psychological health is common in the profession and professional veterinary bodies may wish to consider providing training in dealing with work-related distress, anxiety and depression.