Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Cross-Sectional Study Of Area-Level Disadvantage And Glycaemic-Related Risk In Community Health Service Users In The Southern.Iml Research (Simlr) Cohort, Roger Cross, Andrew D. Bonney, Darren J. Mayne, Kathryn M. Weston

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Objectives. The aim of the present study was to determine the association between area-level socioeconomic disadvantage and glycaemic-related risk in health service users in the Illawarra-Shoalhaven region of New South Wales, Australia. Methods. HbA1c values recorded between 2010 and 2012 for non-pregnant individuals aged 18 years were extracted from the Southern.IML Research (SIMLR) database. Individuals were assigned quintiles of the Socioeconomic Indices for Australia (SEIFA) Index of Relative Socioeconomic Disadvantage (IRSD) according to their Statistical Area 1 of residence. Glycaemic risk categories were defined as HbA1c 5.0-5.99% (lowest risk), 6.0-7.49% (intermediate risk) and 7.5% (highest risk). Logistic regression models were …

A Mediterranean-Style Dietary Intervention Supplemented With Fish Oil Improves Diet Quality And Mental Health In People With Depression: A Randomized Controlled Trial (Helfimed), Natalie Parletta, Dorota M. Zarnowiecki, Jihyun Cho, Amy Wilson, Svetlana Bogomolova, Anthony Villani, Catherine Itsiopoulos, Theo Niyonsenga, Sarah Blunden, Barbara J. Meyer, Leonie Segal, Bernhard Baune, Kerin O'Dea

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Objectives: We investigated whether a Mediterranean-style diet (MedDiet) supplemented with fish oil can improve mental health in adults suffering depression. Methods: Adults with self-reported depression were randomized to receive fortnightly food hampers and MedDiet cooking workshops for 3 months and fish oil supplements for 6 months, or attend social groups fortnightly for 3 months. Assessments at baseline, 3 and 6 months included mental health, quality of life (QoL) and dietary questionnaires, and blood samples for erythrocyte fatty acid analysis. Results: n = 152 eligible adults aged 18-65 were recruited (n = 95 completed 3-month and n = 85 completed 6-month …

Measuring The Outcomes Of Nursing Practice: A Delphi Study, Jenny Sim, Patrick A. Crookes, Kenneth D. Walsh, Elizabeth J. Halcomb

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Aims and objective: To develop nursing-sensitive patient indicators to measure the outcomes of nursing practice.

Background: Nurses play an important role in the healthcare system, yet there is no consensus on how the impact of nursing work should be evaluated. Limited research has previously examined the views of clinical nurses on the important concepts for measuring nursing practice.

Design: A four-round modified Delphi survey sought opinions from patients and nurses about the relevant concepts and their relative priority as indicators of quality nursing practice.

Method: Round 1 comprised semi-structured interviews with patients and nurses to identify …

Resolution And Identification Of Scalemic Caged Xanthones From The Leaf Extract Of Garcinia Propinqua Having Potent Cytotoxicities Against Colon Cancer Cells, Teerayut Sriyatep, Cholpisut Tantapakul, Raymond J. Andersen, Brian O. Patrick, Stephen G. Pyne, Chatchai Muanprasat, Sawinee Seemakhan, Suparerk Borwornpinyo, Surat Laphookhieo

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

A new scalemic 8,8a-dihydro caged xanthone (1) was isolated from the leaf extract of Garcinia propinqua. Five other known natural products, the three caged xanthones (2, 5 and 6) and the two neocaged xanthones, (3 and 4) were also isolated as scalemic mixtures. Their structures were characterized by spectroscopic methods. The enantiomeric ratios (er) of compounds 1-6 ranged from 1:0.7 to 1:0.9. These compounds were also resolved by semipreparative chiral HPLC. The absolute configurations of (+)-2 and (+)-3 were determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis using Cu Kα radiation while the absolute configurations of the other compounds were determined by …

Active Migration Is Associated With Specific And Consistent Changes To Gut Microbiota In Calidris Shorebirds, Alice Risely, David Waite, Beata Ujvari, Bethany J. Hoye, Marcel Klaassen

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Gut microbes are increasingly recognised for their role in regulating an animal's metabolism and immunity. However, identifying repeatable associations between host physiological processes and their gut microbiota has proved challenging, in part because microbial communities often respond stochastically to host physiological stress (e.g. fasting, forced exercise or infection). Migratory birds provide a valuable system in which to test host-microbe interactions under physiological extremes because these hosts are adapted to predictable metabolic and immunological challenges as they undergo seasonal migrations, including temporary gut atrophy during long-distance flights. These physiological challenges may either temporarily disrupt gut microbial ecosystems, or, alternatively, promote predictable …

Migratory Animals Feel The Cost Of Getting Sick: A Meta-Analysis Across Species, Alice Risely, Marcel Klaassen, Bethany J. Hoye

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Migratory animals are widely assumed to play an important role in the long-distance dispersal of parasites, and are frequently implicated in the global spread of zoonotic pathogens such as avian influenzas in birds and Ebola viruses in bats. However, infection imposes physiological and behavioural constraints on hosts that may act to curtail parasite dispersal via changes to migratory timing ("migratory separation") and survival ("migratory culling"). There remains little consensus regarding the frequency and extent to which migratory separation and migratory culling may operate, despite a growing recognition of the importance of these mechanisms in regulating transmission dynamics in migratory animals. …

Why We Shouldn't Be Too Quick To Blame Migratory Animals For Global Disease, Alice Risely, Bethany J. Hoye, Marcel Klaassen

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Have you ever got on a flight and the person next to you started sneezing? With 37 million scheduled flights transporting people around the world each year, you might think that the viruses and other germs carried by travellers would be getting a free ride to new pastures, infecting people as they go. Yet pathogenic microbes are surprisingly bad at expanding their range by hitching rides on planes. Microbes find it difficult to thrive when taken out of their ecological comfort zone; Bali might just be a tad too hot for a Tasmanian parasite to handle.

Impact Of Climate Change And Human Activity On Soil Landscapes Over The Past 12,300 Years, Leo Rothacker, Anthony Dosseto, Alexander Francke, Allan Chivas, Nathalie Vigier, Anna M. Kotarba-Morley, Davide Menozzi

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Soils are key to ecosystems and human societies, and their critical importance requires a better understanding of how they evolve through time. However, identifying the role of natural climate change versus human activity (e.g. agriculture) on soil evolution is difficult. Here we show that for most of the past 12,300 years soil erosion and development were impacted differently by natural climate variability, as recorded by sediments deposited in Lake Dojran (Macedonia/Greece): short-lived ( < 1,000 years) climatic shifts had no effect on soil development but impacted soil erosion. This decoupling disappeared between 3,500 and 3,100 years ago, when the sedimentary record suggests an unprecedented erosion event associated with the development of agriculture in the region. Our results show unambiguously how differently soils evolved under natural climate variability (between 12,300 and 3,500 years ago) and later in response to intensifying human impact. The transition from natural to anthropogenic landscape started just before, or at, the onset of the Greek 'Dark Ages' (~3,200 cal yr BP). This could represent the earliest recorded sign of a negative feedback between civilization and environmental impact, where the development of agriculture impacted soil resources, which in turn resulted in a slowdown of civilization expansion.

Dynamic Topography Of Passive Continental Margins And Their Hinterlands Since The Cretaceous, R. Dietmar Muller, Rakib Hassan, Michael Gurnis, Nicolas Flament, Simon E. Williams

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Even though it is well accepted that the Earth's surface topography has been affected by mantle-convection induced dynamic topography, its magnitude and time-dependence remain controversial. The dynamic influence to topographic change along continental margins is particularly difficult to unravel, because their stratigraphic record is dominated by tectonic subsidence caused by rifting. We follow a three-fold approach to estimate dynamic topographic change along passive margins based on a set of seven global mantle convection models. We first demonstrate that a geodynamic forward model that includes adiabatic and viscous heating in addition to internal heating from radiogenic sources, and a mantle viscosity …

Development Of A Seamless, High-Resolution Bathymetric Model To Compare Reef Morphology Around The Subtropical Island Shelves Of Lord Howe Island And Balls Pyramid, Southwest Pacific Ocean, Michelle Linklater, Sarah Hamylton, Brendan P. Brooke, Scott L. Nichol, Alan Jordan, Colin D. Woodroffe

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Lord Howe Island and Balls Pyramid are located approximately 600 km offshore of the southeastern Australian mainland, in the subtropical waters of the northern Tasman Sea. Lord Howe Island hosts the most southern coral reef in the Pacific Ocean, and the shelves surrounding both islands feature fossil coral reefs. This study creates a seamless, high-resolution (5 m cell size) bathymetry model of the two shelves to compare and contrast the extent of reef development and shelf morphology. This was produced by integrating satellite-derived depth data (derived to 35 m depth) and multibeam echosounder (MBES) data. Image partitioning and filtering improved …

Dietetics Students' Construction Of Competence Through Assessment And Placement Experiences, Claire Palermo, Janeane Dart, Andrea Begley, Eleanor J. Beck, Rachel Bacon, Judith Tweedie, Lana Mitchell, Judith Maher, Danielle Gallegos, Meredith A. Kennedy, Jane Kellett, Claire Margerison, Ruth Crawford, Wendy Stuart-Smith

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Aim: Competency standards are widely adopted as a framework to describe standards of performance required inthe workplace. Little is known, however, about how students construct competence. This qualitative study aimed toexplore how dietetics students ready to graduate construct the concept of competence and the role of assessment indeveloping professional competence.Methods: A qualitative description was used to gather data from a convenience sample of students ready to gradu-ate from universities with accredited dietetics programs across Australia (10 out of 15 at the time of the study).A total of 11 focus groups were conducted to explore perspectives of competence and experiences of …

What Is All This Fuss About Tus? Comparison Of Recent Findings From Biophysical And Biochemical Experiments, Bojk A. Berghuis, Vlad Raducanu, Mohamed M. Elshenawy, Slobodan Jergic, Martin Depken, Nicholas E. Dixon, Samir M. Hamdan, Nynke H. Dekker

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Synchronizing the convergence of the two-oppositely moving DNA replication machineries at specific termination sites is a tightly coordinated process in bacteria. In Escherichia coli, a "replication fork trap"-found within a chromosomal region where forks are allowed to enter but not leave-is set by the protein-DNA roadblock Tus-Ter. The exact sequence of events by which Tus-Ter blocks replisomes approaching from one direction but not the other has been the subject of controversy for many decades. Specific protein-protein interactions between the nonpermissive face of Tus and the approaching helicase were challenged by biochemical and structural studies. These studies …

Plasma Cortisol And Oxytocin Levels Predict Help-Seeking Intentions For Depressive Symptoms, Susan J. Thomas, Theresa A. Larkin

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Background: Depressed individuals often refuse or withdraw from help, a phenomenon termed help-negation, which is a risk factor for poor outcomes. Most previous research has investigated psychosocial factors including stigma as causes of low help-seeking intentions for depression, however these do not adequately explain the problem. We hypothesised that because help-negation worsens with symptom severity, it might be linked to important biological changes associated with depression itself. We investigated the relative contributions of cortisol, a stress hormone linked to depression, and oxytocin, a hormone which mediates social behaviours, alongside psychosocial factors, to help-seeking intentions among depressed and non-depressed individuals. Methods: …

Development And Validation Of A Written Credentialing Examination For Overseas-Educated Dietitians, Neville G. Chiavaroli, Eleanor J. Beck, Catherine Itsiopoulos, Paul Wilkinson, Kay Gibbons, Claire Palermo

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Aim Health professionals seeking employment in foreign countries are commonly required to undertake competency assessment in order to practice. The present study aims to outline the development and validation of a written examination for Dietetic Skills Recognition (DSR), to assess the knowledge, skills, capabilities and professional judgement of overseas-educated dietitians against the competency standards applied to dietetic graduates in Australia. Methods The present study reviews the design, rationale, validation and outcomes of a multiple choice question (MCQ) written examination for overseas-educated dietitians based on 5 years of administration. The validity of the exam is evaluated using Messick's validity framework, which …

Exploring Approaches To Dietetic Assessment Of A Common Task Across Different Universities Through Assessment Moderation, Claire Palermo, E Volders, S Gibson, Meredith A. Kennedy, A Wray, J Thomas, Mary Hannan-Jones, Danielle Gallegos, Eleanor J. Beck

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Background: Assessment presents one of the greatest challenges to evaluating health professional trainee performance, as a result of the subjectivity of judgements and variability in assessor standards. The present study aimed to test a moderation procedure for assessment across four independent universities and explore approaches to assessment and the factors that influence assessment decisions. Methods: Assessment tasks designed independently by each of the four universities to assess student readiness for placement were chosen for the present study. Each university provided four student performance recordings for moderation. Eight different academic assessors viewed the student performances and assessed them using the corresponding …

Intervention Among Suicidal Men: Future Directions For Telephone Crisis Support Research, Tara Hunt, Coralie J. Wilson, Alan Woodward, Peter Caputi, Ian G. Wilson

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Telephone crisis support is a confidential, accessible, and immediate service that is uniquely set up to reduce male suicide deaths through crisis intervention. However, research focusing on telephone crisis support with suicidal men is currently limited. To highlight the need to address service delivery for men experiencing suicidal crisis, this perspective article identifies key challenges facing current telephone crisis support research and proposes that understanding of the role of telephone crisis helplines in supporting suicidal men may be strengthened by careful examination of the context of telephone crisis support, together with the impact this has on help-provision for male suicidal …

Sample Preparation For Determination Of Comminution Ages In Lacustrine And Marine Sediments, Alexander Francke, Sally Carney, Patrick Wilcox, Anthony Dosseto

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

The uranium isotope composition ( 234 U and 238 U) of detrital matter has become an essential tool for evaluating the response of erosion and catchment dynamics to climate variability on geological time scales. Relative variability of the ( 234 U/ 238 U) activity ratio can be used as an estimate of the time that has elapsed since physical and chemical weathering has formed grains < 63μm, termed comminution age, as a result of ongoing depletion of 234 U in detrital matter. However, as non-detrital (authigenic, endogenic) components are commonly enriched in 234 U, sequential extraction methods are required to carefully remove any non-detrital matter from the sediments. Herein, we tested different methods, which use similar chemical reactants but differ in terms of applied heat and time. Based on the results, it can be inferred that an ultrasound-assisted approach enables the removal of non-detrital matter from the sediments without alternating the isotope ratio of the detrital grain, and provides a high reproducibility of the ( 234 U/ 238 U) activity ratios. Moreover, it is the fastest, and thus, most cost effective method tested. Fast and cost-effective treatment methods are a prerequisite for high-resolution studies on long paleoenvironmental records, and thus, these results are fundamental for the further development of U isotope analyses as a tool for the reconstruction of past erosion and catchment dynamics in response to climate variability.Combined U isotopes and gas absorption surface area analyses on two sediment samples from the Mediterranean Sea yield comminution ages up to 5 times older after sample treatment, which highlights the importance of a comprehensive removal of non-detrital matter from the bulk sediment composition. Moreover, gas sorption analysis allowed determining whether a fractal correction for calculation of the recoil fraction should be applied. Precise estimates of the recoil fraction are crucial for calculating the comminution ages, as it governs the loss of 234 U from detrital matter. Samples analyzed in this study display Type II isotherms suggesting a non-porous or macroporous surface. Micro- and mesopores, which increase the surface area during gas absorption analyses but do not contribute to the loss of 234 U are absent. Thus, a fractal correction to account for micro- and mesopores is not required.

Validation And Comparison Of A Model Of The Effect Of Sea-Level Rise On Coastal Wetlands, Laura Mogensen, Kerrylee Rogers

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Models are used to project coastal wetland distribution under future sea-level rise scenarios to assist decision-making. Model validation and comparison was used to investigate error and uncertainty in the Sea Level Affecting Marshes Model, a readily available model with minimal validation, particularly for wetlands beyond North America. Accurate parameterisation is required to improve the performance of the model, and indeed any spatial model. Consideration of tidal attenuation further enhances model performance, particularly for coastal wetlands located within estuaries along wave-dominated coastlines. The model does not simulate vegetation changes that are known to occur, particularly when sedimentation exceeds rates of sea-level …

Investigating Compound Flooding In An Estuary Using Hydrodynamic Modelling: A Case Study From The Shoalhaven River, Australia, Kristian Kumbier, Rafael Cabral Carvalho, Athanasios T. Vafeidis, Colin D. Woodroffe

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Many previous modelling studies have considered storm-tide and riverine flooding independently, even though joint-probability analysis highlighted significant dependence between extreme rainfall and extreme storm surges in estuarine environments. This study investigates compound flooding by quantifying horizontal and vertical differences in coastal flood risk estimates resulting from a separation of storm-tide and riverine flooding processes. We used an open-source version of the Delft3D model to simulate flood extent and inundation depth due to a storm event that occurred in June 2016 in the Shoalhaven Estuary, south-eastern Australia. Time series of observed water levels and discharge measurements are used to force model …

National Sediment Compartment Framework For Australian Coastal Management, Bruce G. Thom, I G Eliot, M Eliot, Nicholas Harvey, David Rissik, Chris Sharples, Andrew D. Short, Colin D. Woodroffe

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

The concept of coastal sediment compartments was first used in the 1960s in the United States. It has since been recognised as appropriate for defining sections of the Australian coast, but had not been uniformly adopted around the nation in the way that has underpinned management, as in other countries. In 2012, the Australian Government supported a project to better understand coastal sediment dynamics using the sediment compartment approach as a framework within which to consider future shoreline behaviour and the impacts of climate change, including rising sea level, changing wave climates and sediment budgets. This paper outlines the sediment …

Ordovician Macquarie Arc And Turbidite Fan Relationships, Lachlan Orogen, Southeastern Australia: Stratigraphic And Tectonic Problems, Chris L. Fergusson, G P. Colquhoun

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Ordovician rocks of the Lachlan Orogen consist of two major associations, mafic to intermediate volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks (Macquarie Arc), which aerially comprise several north-south-trending belts, and the quartz-rich turbidite succession. Relationships between these associations are integral to resolving their tectonic settings and opinions range between contacts being major thrusts, combinations of various types of faults, and stratigraphic contacts with structural complications. Stratigraphic contacts between these associations are found with volcaniclastic-dominant units overlying quartz-turbidite units along the eastern boundary of the eastern volcanic belt and along the southern boundary of the central volcanic belt. Mixing between these major associations is …

Finding A Space For Women: The British Medical Association And Women Doctors In Australia, 1880-1939, Louella R. Mccarthy

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

This paper examines the experiences of women in one professional organisation - the British Medical Association in Australia - during a significant period in the development of such bodies. In doing so it offers an opportunity to consider the relationship between professional societies and the construction of a gendered profession. For the medical profession in particular the time-frame of this study, from the 1880s to the 1930s, has been regarded by scholars as especially important. In this period various features of medical professionalism came to prominence: the status and authority of doctors, the processes of formally registering medical credentials, and …

Upper Torso Pain And Musculoskeletal Structure And Function In Women With And Without Large Breasts: A Cross Sectional Study, Deirdre Mcghee, Karly Coltman, Diane L. Riddiford-Harland, Julie R. Steele

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Background Women with large breasts frequently experience upper torso pain secondary to their breast size. Evidence is lacking on the underlying causes of this pain. This study investigated whether upper torso pain and musculoskeletal structure and function differed between women with large breasts and women with small breasts. Methods A linear regression, adjusting for body mass, compared the upper torso pain, thoracic flexion torque due to breast mass, thoracic kyphosis, shoulder active range-of-motion, and scapular retraction muscle strength of 27 women with large breasts (bilateral breast volume > 1200 ml, age 45.9 y SD 9.9 y, BMI 29.0 kg/m 2 SD …

Dietary Flavonoid Intake In Older Adults: How Many Days Of Dietary Assessment Are Required And What Is The Impact Of Seasonality?, Katherine Caldwell, Karen E. Charlton, Simone Lee, Jonathon Mond, Joanna Russell, Paul Mitchell, Victoria M. Flood

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Background: Within- and between-person variation in nutrient intake is well established, but little is known about variability in dietary flavonoid intake, including the effect of seasonality. Methods: Within- and between-individual variability of flavonoid intake, and intake of flavonoid subclasses was examined in older adults (n = 79; mean age 70.1 y (range: 60y-80y)), using three separate 4-day weighed food records (WFR) collected approximately 4 months apart. The effects of seasonality were also examined. Mixed-effects linear regression models were used to estimate within- and between-individual variance components for flavonoids and subclasses. The number of days of dietary assessment required for a …

Pre-Conception Maternal Erythrocyte Saturated To Unsaturated Fatty Acid Ratio Predicts Pregnancy After Natural Cycle Frozen Embryo Transfer, Christopher C. Onyiaodike, Heather Murray, Ruiqi Zhang, Barbara J. Meyer, Fiona Jordan, Elizabeth A. Brown, Robert Jb Nibbs, Helen Lyall, Naveed Sattar, Scott M. Nelson, Dilys J. Freeman

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

The environment for embryo implantation and fetal growth and development is affected by matern al nutritional, metabolic and health status. The aim of this prospective, cohort study was to test whether plasma metabolic and inflammatory biomarkers can predict pregnancy resulting from in vitro fertilisation (IVF). Women with a natural menstrual cycle undergoing frozen embryo transfer (FET) were recruited and fasting baseline blood samples were collected a mean of 3.4 days prior to the luteinising hormone (LH) surge and a non-fasting blood sample was taken on the day of FET. Ongoing pregnancy was defined by positive fetal heartbeat on ultrasound scan …

Online Ozonolysis Combined With Ion Mobility-Mass Spectrometry Provides A New Platform For Lipid Isomer Analyses, Berwyck L. J Poad, Xueyun Zheng, Todd W. Mitchell, Richard D. Smith, Erin S. Baker, Stephen J. Blanksby

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

One of the most significant challenges in contemporary lipidomics lies in the separation and identification of lipid isomers that differ only in site(s) of unsaturation or geometric configuration of the carbon-carbon double bonds. While analytical separation techniques including ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) and liquid chromatography (LC) can separate isomeric lipids under appropriate conditions, conventional tandem mass spectrometry cannot provide unequivocal identification. To address this challenge, we have implemented ozone-induced dissociation (OzID) in-line with LC, IMS, and high resolution mass spectrometry. Modification of an IMS-capable quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometer was undertaken to allow the introduction of ozone into the high-pressure trapping …

Characteristics Of Indigenous Primary Health Care Service Delivery Models: A Systematic Scoping Review, Stephen Harfield, Carol Davy, Alexa Mcarthur, Zachary Munn, Alex Brown, Ngiare J. Brown

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Indigenous populations have poorer health outcomes compared to their non-Indigenous counterparts. The evolution of Indigenous primary health care services arose from mainstream health services being unable to adequately meet the needs of Indigenous communities and Indigenous peoples often being excluded and marginalised from mainstream health services. Part of the solution has been to establish Indigenous specific primary health care services, for and managed by Indigenous peoples. There are a number of reasons why Indigenous primary health care services are more likely than mainstream services to improve the health of Indigenous communities. Their success is partly due to the fact that …

Diagnosing Copd And Supporting Smoking Cessation In General Practice: Evidenceepractice Gaps, Jenifer Liang, Michael J. Abramson, Nicholas Arnold Zwar, Grant Russell, Anne E. Holland, Billie Bonevski, Ajay Mahal, Kirsten Phillips, Paula Eustace, Eldho Paul, Sally Wilson, Johnson George

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Objectives: To review the accuracy of diagnoses of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in primary care in Australia, and to describe smokers' experiences with and preferences for smoking cessation. Design, setting and participants: Patients were invited to participate if they were at least 40 years old and had visited participating general practice clinics in Melbourne at least twice during the previous 12 months, reported being current or ex-smokers with a smoking history of at least 10 pack-years, or were being managed for COPD. Interviews based on a structured questionnaire and case finding (FEV 1 /FEV 6 measurement) were followed, when …

Self-Organized Nanostructure Modified Microelectrode For Sensitive Electrochemical Glutamate Detection In Stem Cells-Derived Brain Organoids, Babak Nasr, Rachael Chatterton, Jason Yong, Pegah Jamshidi, Giovanna M. D'Abaco, Andrew R. Bjorksten, Omid Kavehei, Gursharan Chana, Mirella Dottori, Efstratios Skafidas

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Neurons release neurotransmitters such as glutamate to communicate with each other and to coordinate brain functioning. As increased glutamate release is indicative of neuronal maturation and activity, a system that can measure glutamate levels over time within the same tissue and/or culture system is highly advantageous for neurodevelopmental investigation. To address such challenges, we develop for the first time a convenient method to realize functionalized borosilicate glass capillaries with nanostructured texture as an electrochemical biosensor to detect glutamate release from cerebral organoids generated from human embryonic stem cells (hESC) that mimic various brain regions. The biosensor shows a clear catalytic …

Serum Ncam Levels And Cognitive Deficits In First Episode Schizophrenia Patients Versus Health Controls, Hui-Mei An, Luping Zhou, Yinghua Yu, Hongzhen Fan, Fengmei Fan, Shu-Ping Tan, Zhi-Ren Wang, Zehra Boz, Jing Shi, Fu-De Yang, Xiang Yang Zhang, Yunlong Tan, Xu-Feng Huang

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Background: Neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) is a glycoprotein and plays an important role in cell-cell adhesion, neural migration, neurite outgrowth, synaptic plasticity and brain development. We investigated the relationship between the serum NCAM concentration and cognitive deficit in first episode drug naïve schizophrenia (FES) patients.

Methods: Thirty FES patients and thirty healthy controls were recruited for this study. Psychiatric symptoms were assessed by the positive and negative syndrome scale (PANSS). Cognitive functions were assessed by measurement and treatment research to improve cognition in schizophrenia (MATRICS) and consensus cognitive battery (MCCB). Serum levels of NCAM were determined by …