Diagnosis Commons^™

The Perth Alexithymia Questionnaire-Short Form (Paq-S): A 6-Item Measure Of Alexithymia, David A. Preece, Ashish Mehta, Kate Petrova, Pilleriin Sikka, Johan Bjureberg, Wai Chen, Rodrigo Becerra, Alfred Allan, Ken Robinson, James J. Gross

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Background: Alexithymia is a trait characterized by difficulties identifying feelings, difficulties describing feelings, and externally orientated thinking. It is widely regarded as an important transdiagnostic risk factor for a range of psychopathologies, including depressive and anxiety disorders. Whilst several well-validated psychometric measures of alexithymia exist, these are relatively lengthy, thus limiting their utility in time-pressured settings. In this paper, we address this gap by introducing and validating a brief 6-item version of the Perth Alexithymia Questionnaire, called the Perth Alexithymia Questionnaire-Short Form (PAQ-S). Method: Across two studies with adult samples (Study 1 N = 508 United States community; Study 2 …

Rapid Prediction Of Multidrug-Resistant Klebsiella Pneumoniae Through Deep Learning Analysis Of Sers Spectra, Jing-Wen Lyu, Xue Di Zhang, Jia-Wei Tang, Yun-Hu Zhao, Su-Ling Liu, Yue Zhao, Ni Zhang, Dan Wang, Long Ye, Xiao-Li Chen, Liang Wang, Bing Gu

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Klebsiella pneumoniae is listed by the WHO as a priority pathogen of extreme importance that can cause serious consequences in clinical settings. Due to its increasing multidrug resistance all over the world, K. pneumoniae has the potential to cause extremely difficult-To-Treat infections. Therefore, rapid and accurate identification of multidrug-resistant K. pneumoniae in clinical diagnosis is important for its prevention and infection control. However, the limitations of conventional and molecular methods significantly hindered the timely diagnosis of the pathogen. As a label-free, noninvasive, and low-cost method, surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy has been extensively studied for its application potentials in the …

Epigenetic Regulation Of Corneal Epithelial Differentiation By Tet2, Yuzuru Sasamoto, Siyuan Wu, Catherine A. A. Lee, Jason Y. Jiang, Bruce R. Ksander, Markus H. Frank, Natasha Y. Frank

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Epigenetic DNA modification by 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC), generated by the Ten-eleven translocation (TET) dioxygenases, regulates diverse biological functions in many organ tissues, including the mammalian eye. For example, 5hmC has been shown to be involved in epigenetic regulation of retinal gene expression. However, a functional role of 5hmC in corneal differentiation has not been investigated to date. Here, we examined 5hmC and TET function in the human cornea. We found 5hmC highly expressed in MUC16-positive terminally differentiated cells that also co-expressed the 5hmC-generating enzyme TET2. TET2 knockdown (KD) in cultured corneal epithelial cells led to significant reductions of 5hmC peak distributions …

Locally Performed Postoperative Circulating Tumour Dna Testing Performed During Routine Clinical Care To Predict Recurrence Of Colorectal Cancer, Ryan Cohen, Aaron Beasley, Melanie Mccoy, Cameron Platell, Katie Meehan, Elin Gray, Kathy Fuller

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Background: Identifying patients at high risk for colorectal cancer recurrence is essential for improving prognosis. In the postoperative period, circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) has been demonstrated as a significant prognostic indicator of recurrence. These results have been obtained under the strict rigours of clinical trials, but not validated in a real-world setting using in-house testing. We report the outcomes of locally performed postoperative ctDNA testing conducted during routine clinical care and the association with the recurrence of colorectal cancer. Methods: We recruited 36 consecutive patients with newly diagnosed colorectal cancer between 2018 and 2020. Postoperative plasma samples were collected at …

Leukocyte Surface Biomarkers Implicate Deficits Of Innate Immunity In Sporadic Alzheimer's Disease, Xin Huang, Yihan Li, Christopher Fowler, James D. Doecke, Yen Ying Lim, Candace Drysdale, Vicky Zhang, Keunha Park, Brett Trounson, Kelly Pertile, Rebecca Rumble, John W. Pickering, Robert A. Rissman, Floyd Sarsoza, Sara Abdel-Latif, Yong Lin, Vincent Doré, Victor Villemagne, Christopher C. Rowe, Jurgen Fripp, Ralph Martins, James S. Wiley, Paul Maruff, Jacobo E. Mintzer, Colin L. Masters, Ben J. Gu

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Introduction:

Blood-based diagnostics and prognostics in sporadic Alzheimer's disease (AD) are important for identifying at-risk individuals for therapeutic interventions.

Methods:

In three stages, a total of 34 leukocyte antigens were examined by flow cytometry immunophenotyping. Data were analyzed by logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses.

Results:

We identified leukocyte markers differentially expressed in the patients with AD. Pathway analysis revealed a complex network involving upregulation of complement inhibition and downregulation of cargo receptor activity and Aβ clearance. A proposed panel including four leukocyte markers – CD11c, CD59, CD91, and CD163 – predicts patients’ PET Aβ status with an …

Multi-Block Data Integration Analysis For Identifying And Validating Targeted N-Glycans As Biomarkers For Type Ii Diabetes Mellitus, Eric Adua, Ebenezer Afrifa-Yamoah, Emmanuel Peprah-Yamoah, Enoch Odame Anto, Emmanuel Acheampong, Kwaafo Akoto Awuah-Mensah, Wei Wang

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Plasma N-glycan profiles have been shown to be defective in type II diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) and holds a promise to discovering biomarkers. The study comprised 232 T2DM patients and 219 healthy individuals. N-glycans were analysed by high-performance liquid chromatography. The multivariate integrative framework, DIABLO was employed for the statistical analysis. N-glycan groups (GPs 34, 32, 26, 31, 36 and 30) were significantly expressed in T2DM in component 1 and GPs 38 and 20 were related to T2DM in component 2. Four clusters were observed based on the correlation of the expressive signatures of the 39 N-glycans across T2DM and controls. …

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 …

Detection Of Hfe Haemochromatosis In The Clinic And Community Using Standard Erythrocyte Tests, Niwansa Adris, Simon Hazeldine, Peter Bentley, Debbie Trinder, Anita C.G. Chua, Lawrie W. Powell, Louise E. Ramm, Grant A. Ramm, John K. Olynyk

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Detection of HFE Haemochromatosis (HH) is challenging in the absence of clinical features. HH subjects have elevated erythrocyte parameters compared to those without HH, but it remains unclear how this could be applied in clinical practice. Thus, we determined the sensitivity, specificity and clinical utility of erythrocyte parameters in 144 HH subjects with (n = 122) or without (n = 22) clinical and/or biochemical expression of iron overload, 1844 general population controls, and 700 chronic disease subjects. For both expressing and non-expressing HH subjects, the mean pre- and post-phlebotomy values of mean cell volume (MCV) and mean cell haemoglobin (MCH) …

Fasting Salivary Glucose Levels Is Not A Better Measure For Identifying Diabetes Mellitus Than Serum Or Capillary Blood Glucose Levels: Comparison In A Ghanaian Population, Richard K.D. Ephraim, Enoch Odame Anto, Emmanuel Acheampong, Linda Ahenkorah Fondjo, Richmond B. Barnie, Samuel Asamoah Sakyi, Ambrose Asare

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Aims/introduction: We compared the diagnostic performance and correlation between salivary, serum and capillary blood glucose of diabetes and non-diabetes patients. Early detection of diabetes mellitus (DM) contributes to the prevention of complications and management. Materials and methods: This case-control study was conducted among a total of 138 participants comprising 79 newly diagnosed diabetes patients (cases) and 59 non-diabetes patients (controls). Fasting salivary glucose (FSLG), fasting serum glucose (FSEG) levels and fasting capillary whole blood glucose (FCWBG) level were assayed for each participant. Results: The mean FSLG, FSEG and FCWBG levels were significantly higher among the cases compared to controls (p …

Immunomagnetic-Enriched Subpopulations Of Melanoma Circulating Tumour Cells (Ctcs) Exhibit Distinct Transcriptome Profiles, Carlos Aya-Bonilla, Elin S. Gray, Jayapal Manikandan, James B. Freeman, Pauline Zaenker, Anna L. Reid, Muhammad A. Khattak, Markus H. Frank, Michael Millward, Mel Ziman

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Cutaneous melanoma circulating tumour cells (CTCs) are phenotypically and molecularly heterogeneous. We profiled the gene expression of CTC subpopulations immunomagnetic-captured by targeting either the melanoma-associated marker, MCSP, or the melanoma-initiating marker, ABCB5. Firstly, the expression of a subset of melanoma genes was investigated by RT-PCR in MCSP-enriched and ABCB5-enriched CTCs isolated from a total of 59 blood draws from 39 melanoma cases. Of these, 6 MCSP-and 6 ABCB5-enriched CTC fractions were further analysed using a genome-wide gene expression microarray. The transcriptional programs of both CTC subtypes included cell survival maintenance, cell proliferation, and migration pathways. ABCB5-enriched CTCs were specifically characterised …

Monitoring Melanoma Recurrence With Circulating Tumor Dna: A Proof Of Concept From Three Case Studies, Ashleigh C. Mcevoy, Michelle R. Pereira, Anna Reid, Robert Pearce, Lester Cowell, Zeyad Al-Ogaili, Muhammad A. Khattak, Michael Millward, Tarek M. Meniawy, Elin S. Gray, Melanie R. Ziman

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background: A significant number of melanoma patients experience recurrence to distant sites, despite having had surgical treatment of the primary lesion, with curative intent. Monitoring of patients for early evidence of disease recurrence would significantly improve management of the disease, allowing timely therapeutic intervention. Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) is becoming a well-recognized biomarker for monitoring malignancies and has, in a few studies, been shown to signify disease recurrence earlier than conventional methods.

Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of plasma ctDNA using droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) in 30 primary melanoma patients with tumors harboring BRAF, NRAS or TERT promoter mutations. …

The Effects Of Testosterone Supplementation On Cognitive Functioning In Older Men, Eka Wahjoepramono, Prita Asih, Vilia Aniwiyanti, Kevin Taddei, Satvinder Dhaliwal, Stephanie Fuller, Jonathan Foster, Malcolm Carruthers, Giuseppe Verdile, Hamid R. Sohrabi, Ralph Martins

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Reduction in testosterone levels in men during aging is associated with cognitive decline and risk of dementia. Animal studies have shown benefits for testosterone supplementation in improving cognition and reducing Alzheimer’s disease pathology. In a randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover study of men with subjective memory complaint and low testosterone levels, we investigated whether testosterone treatment significantly improved performance on various measures of cognitive functioning. Forty-four men were administered a battery of neuropsychological tests to establish the baseline prior to being randomly divided into two groups. The first group (Group A) received 24 weeks of testosterone treatment (T treatment) followed by 4 …

1h-Nmr Urinary Metabolomic Profiling For Diagnosis Of Gastric Cancer, Angela W. Chan, Pascal Mercier, Daniel Schiller, Robert Bailey, Sarah Robbins, Dean T. Eurich, Michael B. Sawyer, David Broadhurst

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background:

Metabolomics has shown promise in gastric cancer (GC) detection. This research sought to identify whether GC has a unique urinary metabolomic profile compared with benign gastric disease (BN) and healthy (HE) patients.

Methods:

Urine from 43 GC, 40 BN, and 40 matched HE patients was analysed using ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H-NMR) spectroscopy, generating 77 reproducible metabolites (QC-RSD < 25%). Univariate and multivariate (MVA) statistics were employed. A parsimonious biomarker profile of GC vs HE was investigated using LASSO regularised logistic regression (LASSO-LR). Model performance was assessed using Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves.

Results:

GC displayed a clear discriminatory biomarker profile; the BN profile overlapped with GC and HE. LASSO-LR identified …

Prediction Models For Solitary Pulmonary Nodules Based On Curvelet Textural Features And Clinical Parameters, Jing-Jing Wang, Hai-Feng Wu, Tao Sun, Xia Li, Wei Wang, Li-Xin Tao, Da Huo, Ping-Xin Lv, Wen He, Xiu-Hua Guo

Research outputs 2013

Lung cancer, one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths, usually appears as solitary pulmonary nodules (SPNs) which are hard to diagnose using the naked eye. In this paper, curvelet-based textural features and clinical parameters are used with three prediction models [a multilevel model, a least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression method, and a support vector machine (SVM)] to improve the diagnosis of benign and malignant SPNs. Dimensionality reduction of the original curvelet-based textural features was achieved using principal component analysis. In addition, non-conditional logistical regression was used to find clinical predictors among demographic parameters and morphological features. …

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

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Abstract not available.

Development Of A Blood Test For The Detection Of Cutaneous Malignant Melanoma, Rebecca Slattery

Theses : Honours

Cutaneous Malignant Melanoma is a highly aggressive form of skin cancer that has a tendency to metastasise. In its early stages, the 5-year survival rate of patients is greater than 90% following surgical excision of an in situ tumour. However, following metastasis of the tumour, the 5-year survival rate declines to 5-35%. Due to the correlation between metastasis and declining survival, studies have attempted to identify potential metastasis as early as possible. Molecular markers of melanoma cells in the peripheral blood of CMM patients have been investigated, as the invasion of tumour cells into the blood is one of the …