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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.

Sex and gender are inadequately considered in health and medical research, policy and practice, leading to preventable disparities in health and wellbeing. Several global institutions, journals, and funding bodies have developed policies and guidelines to improve the inclusion of diverse participants and consideration of sex and gender in research design and reporting and the delivery of clinical care. However, according to recent evaluations, these policies have had limited impact on the inclusion of diverse research participants, adequate reporting of sex and gender data and reducing preventable inequities in access to, and quality provision of, healthcare. In Australia, the Sex and Gender Policies in Medical Research (SGPMR) project aims to address sex and gender bias in health and medical research by (i) examining how sex and gender are currently considered in Australian research policy and practice; (ii) working with stakeholders to develop policy interventions; and (iii) understanding the wider impacts, including economic, of improved sex and gender consideration in Australian health and medical research. In this paper we describe the development of a theory of change (ToC) for the SGPMR project. The ToC evolved from a two-stage process consisting of key stakeholder interviews and a consultation event. The ToC aims to identify the pathways to impact from improved consideration of sex and gender in health and medical research, policy and practice, and highlight how key activities and policy levers can lead to improvements in clinical practice and health outcomes. In describing the development of the ToC, we present an entirely novel framework for outlining how sex and gender can be appropriately considered within the confines of health and medical research, policy and practice.

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.

There has been significant work in recent decades to address gender bias, exclusion and lack of sex and gender consideration in health and medical research, including identification of gender data gaps and implementation of policies to improve sex and gender consideration in research design and reporting. This thesis aimed to understand the impact of this context on current research practice and identify ways to further support meaningful change that can lead to improved health outcomes. These aims were addressed through three original research studies employing either quantitative or qualitative methods and a perspective on the field written in collaboration with other early- and mid-career researchers. Two quantitative analyses of published research were conducted to identify if the policy landscape had impacted research practice. In the field of women’s health, publications still largely focused on reproductive health issues for women in their reproductive years, and few papers aimed to conduct sex and gender analyses. In Australian health and medical research publications, sex and gender reporting were not significantly influenced by established guidelines. There was a lack of clarity around terminology, data collection and reporting of sex and gender data. A perspective on the field was written, highlighting the need to contextualise sex and gender research to improve women’s health. A Theory of Change was developed to map ways to further support changes in research practice and facilitate potential improvement in health outcomes. These pieces of work collectively identified a broad range of activities that are needed across the health and medical research sector, and along the evidence, translation and implementation pipeline. These include improving understanding of sex and gender, providing education, guidelines, policies and standards to support key actors and implementing continuous monitoring and feedback to maintain best practice and achieve a positive impact on health. In conclusion, greater discourse and policy implementation promoting consideration of sex and gender in health and medical research has not had a large impact on research practice, either in the field of women’s health, or in Australian health and medical research. Sector-wide, coordinated activities are needed to support changes in research practice to better consider sex and gender and to effectively translate and implement research findings to improve health outcomes.

Appearance-based Rejection Sensitivity (ARS) is a unique personality processing system that has been shown to involve a dynamic interaction between affect and cognition. Despite being in its infancy, several links have been established between ARS, symptoms of disordered eating and social withdrawal. Currently the main body of ARS literature pertains to body image research, particularly in the effect it can have on romantic relationships, and no research has been conducted to establish how it affects general health. The potential of ARS to add to a wider body of research domains was established during an initial literature review and the principal aim of the current thesis was to explore the nature of ARS within health behaviour and stress research. Cross sectional surveys were utilised to measure the effects of ARS on self-reported health behaviour intention, self-reported behaviour and its predictive validity over and above chronic and acute stress and mainstream personality constructs. ARS was shown to have predictive validity, over and above age, gender, mainstream personality constructs, chronic and acute stress for self-reported behaviour and behavioural intention for a series of prominent health behaviours such as exercise and diet. ARS was found to be negatively associated with exercise, diet and sun protection behaviour and behavioural intention and positively associated with sunbed use and alcohol and nicotine consumption. Such that, individuals high in ARS consumed more saturated fat, exercised less, consumed fewer fruits and vegetables than their low ARS counterparts and also used a sunbed more and consumed more alcohol and nicotine. ARS was also shown to moderate the relationship between stress and fat consumption, exercise and artificial tanning behaviour, such that at high levels of stress high ARS individuals consumed more fat, exercised less and used a sunbed more than low ARS individuals. A daily diary and multi-level modelling was employed to measure the effects of daily stress on health behaviour outcomes, daily mood, social withdrawal and perseverative cognition, and whether ARS moderated these effects. High levels of ARS were associated with higher levels of daily stress, particularly appearance and interpersonal related stress. On days of high stress, ARS moderated the relationship between hassles and behavioural outcomes for snacking, exercise, mood, perseverative cognition and social withdrawal. Such that, on days of stress high ARS individuals withdrew from social situations, worried about past and future appearance concerns, snacked on high fat foods, exercised less and engaged in artificial tanning behaviours more than their low ARS counterparts. This thesis explored the relationship between ARS and health behaviours, personality, stress and health behaviour outcomes and highlights multiple pathways between these variables. The results and the relationships between the variables were replicated within all three studies whilst employing a range of measures and research methodologies. The research within the thesis is the first to explore ARS outside the realm of body image research and to highlight its importance in stress and health behaviour research. This highlights the novelty of the research within the thesis and the implications it has, not only for body image research, but also to stress and health behaviour research and has made significant contributions to the respective research fields.

THE MAGICIAN Michael Scott Doubleday, $29.95 The Magician is the second book in the Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series. It continues smoothly from the first book (The Alchemyst) and the plot is complicated and intriguing.

THE SPOOK'S MISTAKE by Joseph Delaney Random House, $17.95 The Spook's Mistake is set in a mysterious place called the County. Not much is known about the setting except the names of a few towns. This puts a veil of mystery around the County, but it also makes the reader feel lost. It is hard to picture the setting.

JUICY WRITING Brigid Lowry Allen & Unwin, $18.95 Juicy Writing is informative and filled with inspiration and techniques for young writers. It is packed with advice on how to create a wonderful story, poem or novel.

Loganville mother and [Harry Potter] opponent Laura Mallory needs a hobby. The Harry Potter series in no way promotes Wicca, a nature- based religion. If she really wants the Harry Potter books banned, then we must also kiss goodbye \"The Wizard of Oz\" because it celebrates witchcraft with Glenda, the good witch. Also, \"Peter Pan,\" \"Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,\" \"Cinderella\" and just about all other children's fairy tales. Where did Wicca get tied into this? When did Wicca become evil? Mallory's ignorance frightens me when she can dare call a love-and- nature-based religion (in which many accept Jesus as their savior) evil. The true hypocrisy of this situation is not that the Democratic Party tolerates or promotes a gay \"lifestyle\" while condemning the actions of [Mark Foley]. Rather, it is that Foley has advocated legislation to protect the underaged from sexual predators while allegedly preying sexually on the underaged.

A major percentage of fixed nitrogen (N) loss in the oceans occurs within nitrite-rich oxygen minimum zones (OMZs) via denitrification and anammox. It remains unclear to what extent ammonium and nitrite oxidation co-occur, either supplying or competing for substrates involved in nitrogen loss in the OMZ core. Assessment of the oxygen (O₂) sensitivity of these processes down to the O₂ concentrations present in the OMZ core (<10 nmol·L−1) is therefore essential for understanding and modeling nitrogen loss in OMZs. We determined rates of ammonium and nitrite oxidation in the seasonal OMZ off Concepcion, Chile at manipulated O₂ levels between 5 nmol·L−1 and 20 μmol·L−1. Rates of both processes were detectable in the low nanomolar range (5–33 nmol·L−1 O₂), but demonstrated a strong dependence on O₂ concentrations with apparent half-saturation constants (Km s) of 333 ± 130 nmol·L−1 O₂ for ammonium oxidation and 778 ± 168 nmol·L−1 O₂ for nitrite oxidation assuming one-component Michaelis–Menten kinetics. Nitrite oxidation rates, however, were better described with a two-component Michaelis–Menten model, indicating a high-affinity component with a Km of just a few nanomolar. As the communities of ammonium and nitrite oxidizers were similar to other OMZs, these kinetics should apply across OMZ systems. The high O₂ affinities imply that ammonium and nitrite oxidation can occur within the OMZ core whenever O₂ is supplied, for example, by episodic intrusions. These processes therefore compete with anammox and denitrification for ammonium and nitrite, thereby exerting an important control over nitrogen loss.