Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment Commons^™

Assessment Of The Clinical Validity Of Ctdna Analysis For Melanoma Management, Anda-Gabriela Marsavela

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Metastatic melanoma is responsible for almost 80% of all skin cancer-related deaths and the incidence of people affected continues to rise worldwide. The emergence of targeted therapy and immune-checkpoint inhibitors has improved the clinical management of melanoma, but durable survival benefit is only seen in a minority of patients. The use of these very expensive systemic therapies on all appropriate patients also poses a high economic burden on health systems across numerous countries. Currently, surveillance for treatment failure is not optimal. Thus, reliable and accurate biomarkers of patient disease status are urgently required.

Circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) analysis has emerged …

Appraisal Of Free Online Symptom Checkers And Applications For Self-Diagnosis And Triage: An Australian Evaluation, Michella Gaye Hill

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The internet has impacted society and changed the way companies and individuals operate on a daily basis. Seeking information online via computer or mobile device is common practice. The phrase ‘Google it’ is now part of modern vernacular and is a resource increasingly utilised by young and old alike. Around 80% of Australian’s search health-related information online as it is convenient, cheap, and available 24/7. Symptom checkers are one tool used by consumers to investigate their health issues. Symptom checkers are automated online programs which use computerised algorithms, asking a series of questions to help determine a potential diagnosis and/or …

Dna Methylation Of The Clusterin Promoter: Associations With Alzheimer’S Disease Risk And Related Phenotypes, Madeline Peretti

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Background

In 2017 approximately 50 million people worldwide were living with dementia. With Alzheimer’s disease (AD), accounting for 50-70% of dementia cases making this debilitating disease, with no current effective prevention, treatment or cure, a critical healthcare concern. Genome wide association studies (GWAS) have identified a number of risk genes for late onset AD (LOAD); Apolipoprotein E (APOE), a gene involved in the cholesterol/lipid pathway is considered the gene with the greatest risk. The third most associated AD risk gene is Clusterin (CLU), is also involved in the cholesterol/lipid pathway. CLU has been implicated in both …

Circulating Tumour Dna: A Non-Invasive Biomarker For Melanoma, Ashleigh Cavell Mcevoy

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Cutaneous melanoma accounts for 90% of all skin cancer deaths (Balch et al., 2010) and is responsible for 3.6% of deaths from cancer in Australia (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2016). Whilst early detection and successful surgical removal of primary melanomas have improved survival rates (DeSantis et al., 2014), approximately 30% of these patients will have disease recurrence at some point in their lives (Soong et al., 1992; Soong et al., 1998). This is despite being considered disease free following treatment, which may have included surgical removal of the primary and/or its metastasis/es, radiation and/or systemic therapy. Whilst the …

The Cryopreservation Of Human Semen, And Subsequent Evaluation Of A Commercially-Available Device To Isolate Motile Sperm, Callum Andrew Robinson

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The cryopreservation of human semen is a vital asset in assisted reproductive technologies (ART). Although advances have been in the freezing of sperm, further refinement is both necessary and ongoing. Computer-assisted semen analysis (CASA) has been increasingly utilised in both research and diagnostic however there are a range of variables that must first be controlled in order to produce reliable measurements. Following thawing, sperm must be isolated from both the original seminal plasma and the cryoprotectants; the two most used isolation methods include density gradient centrifugation (DGC) and the swim-up method.

The present thesis sought to investigate the following areas …

The Utility Of Multidisciplinary Rehabilitation As A Treatment Strategy For Circadian Rhythm And Sleep Disturbances In Premanifest Huntington’S Disease, Danielle Megan Bartlett

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Background: Huntington’s disease (HD) is a rare, neurodegenerative disease caused by an expanded cytosine-adenine-guanine (CAG) sequence in the Huntingtin gene, resulting in the production of an aberrant protein, mutant huntingtin (mHTT). The mHTT protein exhibits a toxic loss and gain in function, leading to degeneration of neurons in the brain. Consequently, the classic triad of motor, cognitive and mood features of the disease develop. Among the earliest features of HD are circadian rhythm and sleep disturbances. These anomalies present many years prior to formal clinical diagnosis of HD and, while it has been postulated that these disturbances arise as a …

N-Glycosylation Profiles As A Risk Stratification Biomarker For Type Ii Diabetes Mellitus And Its Associated Factors, Eric Adua

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Worldwide, the prevalence of cardiometabolic diseases, particularly type II diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and to a lesser extent, metabolic syndrome (MetS), has increased dramatically. Despite this increase, there is still a lack of robust biomarkers for cardiometabolic diseases to secure better clinical outcomes. The enzymatic attachment of oligosaccharides (glycans) to proteins-glycosylation is of metabolic and physiological significance, as exploring aberrations of glycosylation profiles can reveal novel biomarkers. In parallel, this process could also explain the biological mechanisms that underpin a suboptimal health status (SHS), a reversible subclinical stage of a cardiometabolic disease. However, studies on the correlation between glycosylation and MetS/T2DM …

Ultrasound Measurements On The Inferior Vena Cava By Renal Nursing Staff For Assessment And Management Of Intravascular Volume Status In Haemodialysis Patients, Ulrich Steinwandel

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Title: Ultrasound measurements on the inferior vena cava (IVC-US) by renal nursing staff for assessment and management of intravascular volume status in haemodialysis patients.

Aims: The primary aim of this thesis was to provide evidence that renal nurses could safely and efficiently perform IVC-US on haemodialysis patients to obtain objective assessment of intravascular volume status and potentially reduce adverse events and morbidity. The secondary aims for this study were: (1) conduct a systematic literature review to identify evidence if renal nurses have previously used this method for intravascular volume assessment; (2) teach a renal nurse through a staged educational programme, …

An Assessment Of Nurses’ Experiences Of Work Related Stress Through Self-Reporting And Hair Cortisol Analysis, In A Metropolitan Hospital In Western Australia, Kim Oliver

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The aim of this study was to assess how years of experience and practice area influence work related stress amongst 1,200 nurses employed in a metropolitan hospital environment in Western Australia. A combination of self-administered questionnaires and hair cortisol, an objective stress biomarker, was utilised to measure stress levels and to relate these to practice area, age and experience. Questionnaire results indicated that there was a higher level of perceived stress for 40% of this cohort of nurses; the study methodology was able to unearth noteworthy factors within a local WA nursing population that impacted on their perceived stress. These …

An Algorithm For Extracting The Ppg Baseline Drift In Real-Time, Tuan Ngoc Nguyen

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Photoplethysmography is an optical technique for measuring the perfusion of blood in skin and tissue arterial vessels. Due to its simplicity, accessibility and abundance of information on an individual’s cardiovascular system, it has been a pervasive topic of research within recent years. With these benefits however there are many challenges concerning the processing and conditioning of the signal in order to allow information to be extracted. One such challenge is removing the baseline drift of the signal, which is caused by respiratory rate, muscle tremor and physiological changes within the body as a response to various stimuli.

Over the years …

The N-Glycosylation Of Immunoglobulin G As A Novel Biomarker Of Parkinson’S Disease, Alyce Christine Russell

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

For neurodegenerative diseases, interventions during the early stages of the disease, before significant neurodegeneration has occurred, are associated with an increased probability of slowing or halting the disease process. In order to intervene early, it is essential that an accurate diagnosis is obtained and that disease progression can be monitored. This is particularly relevant for Parkinson’s disease (PD; International Classification of Diseases version 10) because significant neurodegeneration has already occurred by the time the clinical motor symptoms are present. Therefore, the development of translatable, high-throughput biomarkers for large scale population screening is a crucial area of research. Of promise are …

Evaluation Of A Modified Food Frequency Questionnaire To Measure Lignans In Australian Men And Women, Ying Qi Winnie Li

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Phytoestrogens are plant compounds that possess estrogenic and biological properties that have been postulated to protect against chronic diseases. Isoflavonoids and lignans are two main classes of phytoestrogen that have been investigated for their estrogenic efficacy and occurrence in the human diet. Isoflavonoids are found in soy and related products, whereas lignans are found in a wider range of plant-based foods, such as cereals, vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts and seeds; and in beverages such as tea, coffee and wine. In Western populations with low dietary intake of soy products, compared to the Asian counterparts, lignans could be a more important …

Accurate Modelling And Positioning Of A Magnetically-Controlled Catheter Tip, Vi T. H. Le

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This thesis represents the initial phase of a proposed operator and patient friendly method designed to semi-automate the positioning and directing of an intravascular catheter in the human heart using a variable electromagnetically induced field to control a catheter tip equipped with three tiny fixed magnets oriented in XYZ planes. Here we demonstrate a comprehensive mathematical model which accurately calculates the magnetic field generated by the electromagnet system, and the magnetic torques and forces exerted on a three-magnet tip catheter. From this we have developed an iterative predictive computer algorithm to show the displacement and deflection of the catheter tip. …

The Clinical Utility Of The Halosperm Assay And The Development Of A Simplified Method Of Human Semen Storage For The Testing Of Sperm Dna Fragmentation, Ashleigh Cavell Mcevoy

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Male infertility is typically diagnosed upon routine semen analysis following the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) semen analysis manual. Recent editions of the manual have essentially changed the diagnosis of a semen sample, prompting debate between experts as to which edition should be followed. Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) integrity analysis is proving to be a useful adjunct to semen analysis as 15% of infertile men have a normal semen analysis but they have an increased DNA fragmentation level (DFL) which has been associated with increased disease incidence in any resultant offspring. However, such tests are not endorsed by the WHO, possibly due …

Identification Of Plasma Lipid Biomarkers In Alzheimer's Disease, Rhona Creegan

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the commonest form of dementia, is a chronic, progressive neurodegenerative disease which manifests clinically as a slow global decline in cognitive function, including deterioration of memory, reasoning, abstraction, language and emotional stability, culminating in a patient with end-stage disease, totally dependent on custodial care. With an ageing population, there is predicted to be a marked increase in the number of people diagnosed with AD in the coming decades, making this a significant challenge to socio-economic policy and aged care. Currently there is no cure for AD and while current therapies may temporarily ameliorate symptoms, death usually occurs …

Evolutionary Approaches For Feature Selection In Biological Data, Vinh Q. Dang

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Data mining techniques have been used widely in many areas such as business, science, engineering and medicine. The techniques allow a vast amount of data to be explored in order to extract useful information from the data. One of the foci in the health area is finding interesting biomarkers from biomedical data. Mass throughput data generated from microarrays and mass spectrometry from biological samples are high dimensional and is small in sample size. Examples include DNA microarray datasets with up to 500,000 genes and mass spectrometry data with 300,000 m/z values. While the availability of such datasets can aid in …

The Identification Of Diagnostic Serological Autoantibodies For Cutaneous Melanoma, Pauline Zaenker

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Abstract not available.

Magnetocardiography In Unshielded Environment Based On Optical Magnetometry And Adaptive Noise Cancellation, Valentina Tiporlini

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This thesis proposes and demonstrates the concept of a magnetocardiographic system employing an array of optically-pumped quantum magnetometers and an adaptive noise cancellation for heart magnetic field measurement within a magnetically-unshielded environment.

Optically-pumped quantum magnetometers are based on the use of the atomic-spin-dependent optical properties of an atomic medium. An Mxconfiguration- based optically-pumped quantum magnetometer employing two sensing cells containing caesium vapour is theoretically described and experimentally developed, and the dependence of its sensitivity and frequency bandwidth upon the light power and the alkali vapour temperature is experimentally demonstrated. Furthermore, the capability of the developed magnetometer of measuring very weak …

Yeast As A Model For Studying Aβ Aggregation, Toxicity And Clearance, Prashant R. Bharadwaj

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder of the central nervous system, characterised by acute memory loss and behavioural symptoms. The AD brain is characterized by the presence of senile amyloid plaques associated with degenerating neurites and inflammatory processes. The major protein component of these amyloid deposits is the amyloid beta (Aβ) protein. The Aβ protein is a 40 or 42 amino acid cleavage product of APP (Amyloid Precursor Protein) which is produced in low levels in the normal ageing brain. Although senile amyloid plaques is the major pathological hallmark of AD brains, accumulating evidence has been presented to …

A Patient Management Program: The Evaluation Of A Combined Pre-Admission And Early Discharge Program, Lorna Rogers

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The purpose of this descriptive study was to describe the evaluation of a 'Patient Management Program'. This managed care type of program combined a Pre-Admission Clinic and an Early Discharge Program. It was established as a twelve month pilot program at a major Western Australian public teaching hospital in January 1995. It aimed to provide a more efficient health service by replacing part of elective surgical patients' inpatient care with outpatient services. The first component of the Program was the Pre-Admission Clinic, which allowed patients to undergo pre-operative assessment and testing prior to admission to hospital, thus facilitating same day …

Digital Morphometry : A Taxonomy Of Morphological Filters And Feature Parameters With Application To Alzheimer's Disease Research, Andrew Mehnert

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

In this thesis the expression digital morphometry collectively describes all those procedures used to obtain quantitative measurements of objects within a two-dimensional digital image. Quantitative measurement is a two-step process: the application of geometrical transformations to extract the features of interest, and then the actual measurement of these features. With regard to the first step the morphological filters of mathematical morphology provide a wealth of suitable geometric transfomations. Traditional radiometric and spatial enhancement techniques provide an additional source of transformations. The second step is more classical (e.g. Underwood, 1970; Bookstein, 1978; and Weibull, 1980); yet here again mathematical morphology is …