Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Exposure To Environmental Microbiota Explains Persistent Abdominal Pain And Irritable Bowel Syndrome After A Major Flood, Nurfadhilah Yusof, Nurhazwani Hamid, Zheng Feei Ma, Rona Marie Lawenko, Wan Mohd Zahiruddin Wan Mohammad, Deirdre Collins, Min Tze Liong, Toshitaka Odamaki, Jinzhong Xiao, Yeong Yeh Lee

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background

After an environmental disaster, the affected community is at increased risk for persistent abdominal pain but mechanisms are unclear. Therefore, our study aimed to determine association between abdominal pain and poor water, sanitation and hygiene (WaSH) practices, and if small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) and/or gut dysbiosis explain IBS, impaired quality of life (QOL), anxiety and/or depression after a major flood.

Results

New onset abdominal pain, IBS based on the Rome III criteria, WaSH practices, QOL, anxiety and/or depression, SIBO (hydrogen breath testing) and stools for metagenomic sequencing were assessed in flood victims. Of 211 participants, 37.9 % ( …

Additive Manufacturing Techniques And Their Biomedical Applications, Yujing Liu, Wei Wang, Laichang Zhang

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Additive manufacturing (AM), also known as three-dimensional (3D) printing, is gaining increasing attention in medical fields, especially in dental and implant areas. Because AM technologies have many advantages in comparison with traditional technologies, such as the ability to manufacture patient-specific complex components, high material utilization, support of tissue growth, and a unique customized service for individual patients, AM is considered to have a large potential market in medical fields. This brief review presents the recent progress of 3D-printed ­biomedical materials for bone applications, mainly for metallic materials, including multifunctional alloys with high strength and low Young’s modulus, shape memory alloys, …

Effect Of Socioeconomic Disadvantage, Remoteness And Indigenous Status On Hospital Usage For Western Australian Preterm Infants Under 12 Months Of Age: A Population-Based Data Linkage Study, Natalie A. Strobel, Sue Peter, Kimberley E. Mcauley, Daniel R. Mcaullay, Rhonda Marriott, Karen M. Edmond

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Objectives:

Our primary objective was to determine the incidence of hospital admission and emergency department presentation in Indigenous and non-Indigenous preterm infants aged postdischarge from birth admission to 11 months in Western Australia. Secondary objectives were to assess incidence in the poorest infants from remote areas and to determine the primary causes of hospital usage in preterm infants.

Design:

Prospective population-based linked data set.

Setting and participants:

All preterm babies born in Western Australia during 2010 and 2011.

Main outcome measures:

All-cause hospitalisations and emergency department presentations.

Results:

There were 6.9% (4211/61 254) preterm infants, 13.1% (433/3311) Indigenous …

Seminal Plasma Enables Selection And Monitoring Of Active Surveillance Candidates Using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance-Based Metabolomics: A Preliminary Investigation, Matthew J. Roberts, Renee S. Richards, Clement W.K. Chow, Marion Buck, John Yaxley, Martin F. Lavin, Horst Joachim Schirra, Robert A. Gardiner

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background:

Diagnosis and monitoring of localized prostate cancer requires discovery and validation of noninvasive biomarkers. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-based metabolomics of seminal plasma reportedly improves diagnostic accuracy, but requires validation in a high-risk clinical cohort.

Materials and methods:

Seminal plasma samples of 151 men being investigated for prostate cancer were analyzed with ¹H-NMR spectroscopy. After adjustment for buffer (add-to-subtract) and endogenous enzyme influence on metabolites, metabolite profiling was performed with multivariate statistical analysis (principal components analysis, partial least squares) and targeted quantitation.

Results:

Seminal plasma metabolites best predicted low- and intermediate-risk prostate cancer with differences observed between these …

Work Change In Multiple Sclerosis As Motivated By The Pursuit Of Illness-Work-Life Balance: A Qualitative Study, Lavanya Vijayasingham, Uma Jogulu, Pascale Allotey

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Individuals with multiple sclerosis have a tendency to make early decisions for work change, even in reversible, episodic, or mild disease stages. To better understand how a multiple sclerosis (MS) diagnosis influences perceptions of work and motivations for work changes, we conducted a hermeneutic phenomenology study to explore the work lives of ten individuals with MS in Malaysia. The interpretive analysis and cumulative narratives depict an overarching change in their concept of ideal work and life aspirations and how participants make preemptive work changes to manage illness-work-life futures in subjectively meaningful ways. Discussions on their integrated pursuit of finding dynamic …

The Gene Smart Study: Method, Study Design, And Preliminary Findings, Xu Yan, Nir Eynon, Ioannis D. Papadimitriou, Jujiao Kuang, Fiona Munson, Oren Tirosh, Lannie O’Keefe, Lyn R. Griffiths, Kevin J. Ashton, Nuala Byrne, Yannis P. Pitsiladis, David J. Bishop

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The gene SMART (genes and the Skeletal Muscle Adaptive Response to Training) Study aims to identify genetic variants that predict the response to both a single session of High-Intensity Interval Exercise (HIIE) and to four weeks of High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). While the training and testing centre is located at Victoria University, Melbourne, three other centres have been launched at Bond University, Queensland University of Technology, Australia, and the University of Brighton, UK. Currently 39 participants have already completed the study and the overall aim is to recruit 200 moderately-trained, healthy Caucasians participants (all males 18 – 45 y, BMI …

Prevalence Of Binary Toxin Positive Clostridium Difficile In Diarrhoeal Humans In The Absence Of Epidemic Ribotype 027, Alan M. Mcgovern, Grace O. Androga, Daniel R. Knight, Mark W. Watson, Briony Elliott, Niki F. Foster, Barbara J. Chang, Thomas V. Riley

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Virulence of Clostridium difficile is primarily attributed to the large clostridial toxins A and B while the role of binary toxin (CDT) remains unclear. The prevalence of human strains of C. difficile possessing only CDT genes (A¯B¯CDT ⁺) is generally low (< 5 %), however, this genotype is commonly found in neonatal livestock both in Australia and elsewhere. Zoonotic transmission of C. difficile has been suggested previously. Most human diagnostic tests will not detect A¯B¯CDT ⁺ strains of C. difficile because they focus on detection of toxin A and/or B. We performed a prospective investigation into the prevalence and genetic characteristics of A¯B¯CDT ⁺ C. difficile in symptomatic humans. All glutamate dehydrogenase or …

Neuromuscular Training Improves Lower Extremity Biomechanics Associated With Knee Injury During Landing In 11-13 Year Old Female Netball Athletes: A Randomized Control Study, Amanda J. Hopper, Erin Haff, Christopher Joyce, Rhodri S. Lloyd, G. Gregory Haff

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a neuromuscular training (NMT) program on lower-extremity biomechanics in youth female netball athletes. The hypothesis was that significant improvements would be found in landing biomechanics of the lower-extremities, commonly associated with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury, following NMT. Twenty-three athletes (age = 12.2 ± 0.9 years; height = 1.63 ± 0.08 m; mass = 51.8 ± 8.5 kg) completed two testing sessions separated by 7-weeks and were randomly assigned to either a experimental or control group. Thirteen athletes underwent 6-weeks of NMT, while the remaining 10 served as controls …

Association Between Ideal Cardiovascular Health Metrics And Suboptimal Health Status In Chinese Population, Youxin Wang, Xiaoxue Liu, Jing Qiu, Hao Wang, Di Liu, Zhongyao Zhao, Manshu Song, Qiaofeng Song, Xizhu Wang, Yong Zhou, Wei Wang

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Suboptimal health status (SHS) is a physical state between health and illness, and previous studies suggested that SHS is associated with majority components of cardiovascular health metrics defined by American Heart Association (AHA). We investigated the association between SHS and cardiovascular health metrics in a cross-sectional analysis of China suboptimal health cohort study (COACS) consisting of 4313 participants (60.30 % women) aged from 18 to 65 years old. The respective prevalence of SHS is 7.10 %, 9.18 %, 10.04 % and 10.62 % in the first, second, third and fourth quartiles of ideal cardiovascular health (CVH) metrics (P for …

"Active Team" A Social And Gamified App-Based Physical Activity Intervention: Randomised Controlled Trial Study Protocol, Sarah Edney, Ronald Plotnikoff, Corneel Vandelanotte, Tim Olds, Ilse De Bourdeaudhuij, Jillian Ryan, Carol Maher

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background

Physical inactivity is a leading preventable cause of chronic disease and premature death globally, yet over half of the adult Australian population is inactive. To address this, web-based physical activity interventions, which have the potential to reach large numbers of users at low costs, have received considerable attention. To fully realise the potential of such interventions, there is a need to further increase their appeal to boost engagement and retention, and sustain intervention effects over longer periods of time. This randomised controlled trial aims to evaluate the efficacy of a gamified physical activity intervention that connects users to each …

A Blood-Based Biomarker Panel Indicates Il-10 And Il-12/23p40 Are Jointly Associated As Predictors Of Β-Amyloid Load In An Ad Cohort, Steve Pedrini, Veer B. Gupta, Eugene Hone, James Doecke, Sid O’Bryant, Ian James, Ashley I. Bush, Christopher C. Rowe, Victor L. Villemagne, David Ames, Colin L. Masters, Ralph N. Martins, Aibl Research Group

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia, characterised by extracellular amyloid deposition as plaques and intracellular neurofibrillary tangles of tau protein. As no current clinical test can diagnose individuals at risk of developing AD, the aim of this project is to evaluate a blood-based biomarker panel to identify individuals who carry this risk. We analysed the levels of 22 biomarkers in clinically classified healthy controls (HC), mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer’s participants from the well characterised Australian Imaging, Biomarker and Lifestyle (AIBL) study of aging. High levels of IL-10 and IL-12/23p40 were significantly associated with amyloid …

Effects Of A Six-Week Strength Training Programme On Change Of Direction Performance In Youth Team Sport Athletes, Frank A. Bourgeois, Paul Gamble, Nic D. Gill, Mike R. Mcguigan

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

This study investigated the effects of eccentric phase-emphasis strength training (EPE) on unilateral strength and performance in 180- and 45-degree change of direction (COD) tasks in rugby union players. A 12-week cross-over design was used to compare the efficacy of resistance training executed with 3 s eccentric duration (EPE, n = 12) against conventional strength training, with no constraints on tempo (CON, n = 6). Players in each condition were categorised as ‘fast’ (FAST) or ‘slow’ (SLOW) using median trial times from baseline testing. Players recorded greater isometric strength improvements following EPE (ES = − 0.54 to 1.80). Whilst these …

Cruciferous And Allium Vegetable Intakes Are Inversely Associated With 15‐Year Atherosclerotic Vascular Disease Deaths In Older Adult Women, Lauren Blekkenhorst, Catherine P. Bondonno, Joshua Lewis, Amanda Devine, Kun Zhu, Wai Lim, Richard Woodman, Lawrence Beilin, Richard Prince, Jonathan M. Hodgson

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background

Higher vegetable intake is consistently associated with lower atherosclerotic vascular disease (ASVD) events. However, the components responsible and mechanisms involved are uncertain. Nonnutritive phytochemicals may be involved. The objective of this study was to investigate the associations of total vegetable intake and types of vegetables grouped according to phytochemical constituents with ASVD mortality.

Methods and Results

The cohort consisted of 1226 Australian women aged 70 years and older without clinical ASVD or diabetes mellitus at baseline (1998). Vegetable intakes were calculated per serving (75 g/d) and were also classified into prespecified types relating to phytochemical constituents. ASVD‐related deaths were …

Age-Related Neurodegenerative Disease Associated Pathways Identified In Retinal And Vitreous Proteome From Human Glaucoma Eyes, M. Mirzaei, Veer Bala Gupta, J. M. Chick, T. M. Greco, Y. Wu, N. Chitranshi, R. V. Wall, Eugene Hone, L. Deng, Y. Dheer, M. Abbasi, M. Rezaeian, N. Braidy, Y. You, G. H. Salekdeh, P. A. Haynes, M. P. Molloy, Ralph Martins, I. M. Cristea, S. P. Gygi, S. L. Graham, V. K. Gupta

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Glaucoma is a chronic disease that shares many similarities with other neurodegenerative disorders of the central nervous system. This study was designed to evaluate the association between glaucoma and other neurodegenerative disorders by investigating glaucoma-associated protein changes in the retina and vitreous humour. The multiplexed Tandem Mass Tag based proteomics (TMT-MS3) was carried out on retinal tissue and vitreous humour fluid collected from glaucoma patients and age-matched controls followed by functional pathway and protein network interaction analysis. About 5000 proteins were quantified from retinal tissue and vitreous fluid of glaucoma and control eyes. Of the differentially regulated proteins, 122 were …

Myocardial Infarction In The Wisconsin Longitudinal Study: The Interaction Among Environmental, Health, Social, Behavioural And Genetic Factors, Tina K. Gonzales, James A. Yonker, Vicky Chang, Carol L. Roan, Pamela Herd, Craig S. Atwood

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Objectives:

This study examined how environmental, health, social, behavioural and genetic factors interact to contribute to myocardial infarction (MI) risk.

Design:

Survey data collected by Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS), USA, from 1957 to 2011, including 235 environmental, health, social and behavioural factors, and 77 single- nucleotide polymorphisms were analysed for association with MI. To identify associations with MI we utilized recursive partitioning and random forest prior to logistic regression and chi-squared analyses.

Participants:

6198 WLS participants (2938 men; 3260 women) who (1) had a MI before 72 years and (2) had a MI between 65 and 72 years. …

An Integrative Study Of Motivation And Goal Regulation Processes In Subclinical Anxiety, Depression And Hypomania, Joanne M. Dickson, Sheri Johnson, Christopher Huntley, Peter Taylor

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Research has implicated motivation and goal regulation in susceptibility to mood disorders. We studied for the first time key facets of motivation and goal regulation concurrently in relation to affective symptoms. The cross-national sample comprised 510 university students from the United States (n = 279) and United Kingdom (n = 231). Participants completed self-report measures of motivation, conditional goal setting, urgency, depression, anxiety, and mania risk. Structural Equation Modeling results found that behavioral activation system scores correlated negatively with depression and positively with mania risk, but were unrelated to anxiety. High conditional goal setting correlated uniquely with higher …

Stimulation Of Anterior Thalamic Nucleus Protects Hippocampus Neural Injury In Kainic Acid-Induced Epileptic Rats, Na Yan, Ning Chen, Wei Gao, Wei Wang

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Anterior nucleus of thalamus (ANT) stimulation has been proved to be effective in the treatment of refractory epilepsy, but the underlying mechanisms remain to be elucidated. We examined the role of ANT stimulation on hippocampal neuron death after seizures induced by kainic acid (KA). Our data showed that ANT stimulation could significantly rescue neurons from death induced by seizures, by reducing the release of cytochrome c (cyto c) and also via apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) induced by seizures through inhibiting the activated caspase-9 and caspase-3. Our data suggest that ANT stimulation may protect against neuronal loss and reduce neuronal injury in …

Affordance Boundaries Are Defined By Dynamic Capabilities Of Parkour Athletes In Dropping From Various Heights, James L. Croft, John E.A. Bertram

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Available behaviors are determined by the fit between features of the individual and reciprocal features of the environment. Beyond some critical boundary certain behaviors become impossible causing sudden transitions from one movement pattern to another. Parkour athletes have developed multiple movement patterns to deal with their momentum during landing. We were interested in whether drop distance would cause a sudden transition between a two-footed (precision) landing and a load-distributing roll and whether the transition height could be predicted by dynamic and geometric characteristics of individual subjects. Kinematics and ground reaction forces were measured as Parkour athletes stepped off a box …

Profiling Of Cardio-Metabolic Risk Factors And Medication Utilisation Among Type Ii Diabetes Patients In Ghana: A Prospective Cohort Study, Eric Adua, Peter Roberts, Samuel Asamoah Sakyi, Francis Agyemang Yeboah, Albert Dompreh, Kwasi Frimpong, Enoch Odame Anto, Wei Wang

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background:

Type II diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is complicated by multiple cardio-metabolic risk factors. Controlling these factors requires lifestyle modifications alongside utilisation of anti-diabetic medications. Different glucose lowering [(biguanides (BIGs), sulfonylureas (SUAs), thiazolidinediones (TNZ)], lipid lowering (statins), and anti-hypertensive medicines [angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs), calcium channel blockers (CCBs), angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) and central acting drugs (CADs)] have been approved for controlling hyperglycaemia, dyslipidaemia and hypertension respectively. Here, we examined factors that characterise T2DM and explored the response to medication therapy among T2DM patients.

Methods:

This prospective cohort study recruited 241 T2DM patients reporting at a clinic …

Sensitive Droplet Digital Pcr Method For Detection Of Tert Promoter Mutations In Cell Free Dna From Patients With Metastatic Melanoma, Ashleigh C. Mcevoy, Leslie Calapre, Michelle Pereira, Tindaro M. Giardina, Cleo Robinson, Muhammad A. Khattak, Tarek M. Meniawy, Antonia L. Pritchard, Nicholas K. Hayward, Benhur Amanuel, Michael J. Millward, Mel R. Ziman Dr, Elin S. Gray

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background:

Currently mainly BRAF mutant circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) is utilized to monitor patients with melanoma. TERT promoter mutations are common in various cancers and found in up to 70 % of melanomas, including half of BRAF wildtype cases. Therefore, a sensitive method for detection of TERT promoter mutations would increase the number of patients that could be monitored through ctDNA analysis.

Methods:

A droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) assay was designed for the concurrent detection of chr5:1,295,228 C > T and chr5:1,295,250 C > T TERT promoter mutations. The assay was validated using 39 melanoma cell lines and 22 matched plasma and …

Evaluation Of Cholinergic Deficiency In Preclinical Alzheimer's Disease Using Pupillometry, Shaun Frost, Liam Robinson, Christopher C. Rowe, David Ames, Colin L. Masters, Kevin Taddei, Stephanie Rainey-Smith, Ralph Martins, Yogesan Kanagasingam

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Cortical cholinergic deficiency is prominent in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and published findings of diminished pupil flash response in AD suggest that this deficiency may extend to the visual cortical areas and anterior eye. Pupillometry is a low-cost, noninvasive technique that may be useful for monitoring cholinergic deficits which generally lead to memory and cognitive disorders. The aim of the study was to evaluate pupillometry for early detection of AD by comparing the pupil flash response (PFR) in AD (N=14) and cognitively normal healthy control (HC, N=115) participants, with the HC group stratified according to high (N=38) and low (N=77) neocortical …

The Hsp72 And Hsp90Α Mrna Responses To Hot Downhill Running Are Reduced Following A Prior Bout Of Hot Downhill Running, And Occur Concurrently Within Leukocytes And The Vastus Lateralis, James A. Tuttle, Bryna C.R. Chrismas, Oliver R. Gibson, James H. Barrington, David C. Hughes, Paul C. Castle, Alan J. Metcalfe, Adrian W. Midgley, Oliver Pearce, Chindu Kabir, Faizal Rayanmarakar, Sami Al-Ali, Mark P. Lewis, Lee Taylor

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The leukocyte heat shock response (HSR) is used to determine individual's thermotolerance. The HSR and thermotolerance are enhanced following interventions such as preconditioning and/or acclimation/acclimatization. However, it is unclear whether the leukocyte HSR is an appropriate surrogate for the HSR in other tissues implicated within the pathophysiology of exertional heat illnesses (e.g., skeletal muscle), and whether an acute preconditioning strategy (e.g., downhill running) can improve subsequent thermotolerance. Physically active, non-heat acclimated participants were split into two groups to investigate the benefits of hot downhill running as preconditioning strategy. A hot preconditioning group (HPC; n = 6) completed two trials (HPC1 …

Isolation And Detection Of Circulating Tumour Cells From Metastatic Melanoma Patients Using A Slanted Spiral Microfluidic Device, Carlos A. Aya-Bonilla, Gabriela Marsavela, James B. Freeman, Chris Lomma, Markus Frank, Muhammad Khattak, Tarek Meniawy, Michael Millward, Majid Warkiani, Elin S. Gray, Mel Ziman

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Circulating Tumour Cells (CTCs) are promising cancer biomarkers. Several methods have been developed to isolate CTCs from blood samples. However, the isolation of melanoma CTCs is very challenging as a result of their extraordinary heterogeneity, which has hindered their biological and clinical study. Thus, methods that isolate CTCs based on their physical properties, rather than surface marker expression, such as microfluidic devices, are greatly needed in melanoma. Here, we assessed the ability of the slanted spiral microfluidic device to isolate melanoma CTCs via label-free enrichment. We demonstrated that this device yields recovery rates of spiked melanoma cells of over 80% …

The Indirect Efficacy Comparison Of Dna Methylation In Sputum For Early Screening And Auxiliary Detection Of Lung Cancer: A Meta-Analysis, Di Liu, Hongli Peng, Qi Sun, Zhongyoa Zhao, Xinwei Yu, Siqi Ge, Hao Wang, Honghong Fang, Qing Gao, Jiaonan Liu, Lijuan Wu, Manshu Song, Youxin Wang

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background

DNA methylation in sputum has been an attractive candidate biomarker for the non-invasive screening and detection of lung cancer.

Materials and Methods

Databases including PubMed, Ovid, Cochrane library, Web of Science databases, Chinese Biological Medicine (CBM), Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang, Vip Databases and Google Scholar were searched to collect the diagnostic trials on aberrant DNA methylation in the screening and detection of lung cancer published until 1 December 2016. Indirect comparison meta-analysis was used to evaluate the diagnostic value of the included candidate genes.

Results

The systematic literature search yielded a total of 33 studies including a …

Light Exercise Heart Rate On-Kinetics: A Comparison Of Data Fitted With Sigmoidal And Exponential Functions And The Impact Of Fitness And Exercise Intensity, Karl M. Trounson, Spencer Robert, Aaron Balloch

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

This study examined the suitability of sigmoidal (SIG) and exponential (EXP) functions for modeling HR kinetics at the onset of a 5‐min low‐intensity cycling ergometer exercise test (5MT). The effects of training status, absolute and relative workloads, and high versus low workloads on the accuracy and reliability of these functions were also examined. Untrained participants (UT_abs; n = 13) performed 5MTs at 100W. One group of trained participants (n = 10) also performed 5MTs at 100W (ET_abs). Another group of trained participants (n = 9) performed 5MTs at 45% and 60% max (ET_{45 …}

Could Titin Have A Role In Strain-Induced Injuries?, Craig Perrin, Kazunori Nosaka, James Steele

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

It has been known for some time that strain injuries occur through the excessive lengthening of a muscle. However, the precise mechanism for strain injury remains elusive and has been the subject of recent debate in the Journal of Sport and Health Science, but it seems sensible to consider mechanisms at the level of the muscle fiber. It was previously believed that damage was the result of non-uniform stretching of sarcomeres on the descending limb of the length–tension curve, with the weakest sarcomeres undergoing the greatest deformation and ultimately damaging the myofibril. This non-uniform lengthening was also believed to …

A Study Protocol For A Randomised Controlled Trial Of An Interactive Web-Based Intervention: Cancercope, Suzanne K. Chambers, Lee Ritterband, Frances Thorndike, Lisa Nielsen, Joanne Aitken, Samantha Clutton, Paul Scuffham, Philippa Youl, Bronwyn Morris, Peter Baade, Jeffrey Dunn

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Introduction:

Approximately 35% of patients with cancer experience clinically significant distress, and unmet psychological supportive care needs are prevalent. This study describes the protocol for a randomised controlled trial (RCT) to assess the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of an internet-based psychological intervention for distressed patients with cancer.

Methods and analysis:

In phase I, the intervention was developed on an interactive web platform and pilot tested for acceptability using a qualitative methodology with 21 patients with cancer. Phase II is an RCT underway with patients with or at risk of elevated psychological distress comparing: (1) static patient education website with (2) …

Can Exercise Suppress Tumour Growth In Advanced Prostate Cancer Patients With Sclerotic Bone Metastases? A Randomised, Controlled Study Protocol Examining Feasibility, Safety And Efficacy, Nicolas H. Hart, Robert Newton, Nigel Spry, Dennis Taaffe, Suzanne K. Chambers, Kynan Feeney, David Joseph, Andrew D. Redfern, Tom Ferguson, Daniel A. Galvao

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Introduction

Exercise may positively alter tumour biology through numerous modulatory and regulatory mechanisms in response to a variety of modes and dosages, evidenced in preclinical models to date. Specifically, localised and systemic biochemical alterations produced during and following exercise may suppress tumour formation, growth and distribution by virtue of altered epigenetics and endocrine–paracrine activity. Given the impressive ability of targeted mechanical loading to interfere with metastasis-driven tumour formation in human osteolytic tumour cells, it is of equal interest to determine whether a similar effect is observed in sclerotic tumour cells. The study aims to (1) establish the feasibility and safety …

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation And Sports Performance, Dylan J. Edwards, Mar Cortes, Susan Wortman-Jutt, David Putrino, Marom Bikson, Gary Thickbroom, Alvaro Pascual-Leone

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The application of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) hasmoved fromthe laboratory to the wider community. This form of non-invasive brain stimulation has been shown in a number of controlled animal and human experiments, over nearly five decades, to modulate brain physiology, cognitive functions, and behavior. While its effects are variable across and within individuals, it is not unreasonable to state that tDCS harbors the potential to enhance executive and physical human performance. In a society increasingly driven to succeed with less effort, performance enhancement with an intervention that has an excellent safety record, is well tolerated, relatively inexpensive and readily …

Effect Of Tendon Vibration During Wide-Pulse Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation (Nmes) On The Decline And Recovery Of Muscle Force, Vanesa Bochkezanian, Robert Newton, Gabriel S. Trajano, Amilton Vieira, Timothy S. Pulverenti, Anthony J. Blazevich

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background:

Neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) is commonly used to activate skeletal muscles and reverse muscle atrophy in clinical populations. Clinical recommendations for NMES suggest the use of short pulse widths (100–200 μs) and low-to-moderate pulse frequencies (30–50 Hz). However, this type of NMES causes rapid muscle fatigue due to the (non-physiological) high stimulation intensities and non-orderly recruitment of motor units. The use of both wide pulse widths (1000 μs) and tendon vibration might optimize motor unit activation through spinal reflex pathways and thus delay the onset of muscle fatigue, increasing muscle force and mass. Thus, the objective of this study …