Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Diabetes And Cognitive Deficits In Chronic Schizophrenia: A Case-Control Study, Mei Han, Xu-Feng Huang, Da Chun Chen, Meihong Xiu, Thomas R. Kosten, Xiang Yang Zhang

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

Cognitive impairment occurs in both schizophrenia and diabetes. There is currently limited understanding whether schizophrenia with diabetes has more serious cognitive deficits than schizophrenia without diabetes or diabetes only. This study assessed cognitive performance in 190 healthy controls, 106 diabetes only, 127 schizophrenia without diabetes and 55 schizophrenia with diabetes. This study was conducted from January 2008 to December 2010. Compared to healthy controls, all patient groups had significantly decreased total and five index RBANS scores (all p<0.01-p

Baby Leafy Green Vegetables: Providing Insight Into An Old Problem? An Exploratory Qualitative Study Examining Influences On Their Consumption, Anne-Therese Mcmahon, Linda Tapsell, Peter Williams, Jennifer Jobling

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

Issue addressed: Populations in many developed countries continue to fail to meet vegetable consumption recommendations despite ongoing health promotion activities supported by public health policies. Novel ways to encourage vegetable consumption may help address this concern. The aim of the present study was to describe female consumers' perceptions about leafy green vegetables and identify consumption issues. Methods: Three age-stratified semistructured focus groups were conducted with 23 female participants. Food shopping habits, reported consumption and/or knowledge, and the perceived benefits of and/or issues associated with the consumption of leafy green vegetables were explored. Focus groups were transcribed verbatim. Two researchers examined …

Addressing The Deficiencies In The Evidence-Base For Primary Practice In Regional Australia - Sentinel Practices Data Sourcing (Spds) Project: A Pilot Study, Abhijeet Ghosh, Karen E. Charlton, Lisa Girdo, Marijka J. Batterham, Keith Mcdonald

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

Background Chronic disease risk on a population level can be quantified through health surveys, either continuous or periodic. To date, information gathered from primary care interactions, using sentinel sites, has not been investigated as a potentially valuable surveillance system in Australia.

Methods A pilot study was conducted in a single General Practice in a regional area of New South Wales, Australia to assess the feasibility of accessing data obtained through a computerised chronic disease management program that has been designed for desktop application (Pen Computer Systems (PCS) Clinical Audit Tool: ™ PCS CAT). Collated patient data included information on chronic …

Utility Of Coi, Cad And Morphological Data For Resolving Relationships Within The Genus Sarcophaga (Sensu Lato) (Diptera: Sarcophagidae): A Preliminary Study, Kelly A. Meiklejohn, James F. Wallman, Thomas Pape, Stephen L. Cameron, Mark Dowton

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

Currently there are ∼3000 known species of Sarcophagidae (Diptera), which are classified into 173 genera in three subfamilies. Almost 25% of sarcophagids belong to the genus Sarcophaga (sensu lato) however little is known about the validity of, and relationships between the ∼150 (or more) subgenera of Sarcophaga s.l. In this preliminary study, we evaluated the usefulness of three sources of data for resolving relationships between 35 species from 14 Sarcophaga s.l. subgenera: the mitochondrial COI barcode region, ∼800 bp of the nuclear gene CAD, and 110 morphological characters. Bayesian, maximum likelihood (ML) and maximum parsimony (MP) analyses were performed on …

Developing 'Policy Stories' For State Health System Benchmarking: A Small-N Quali-Quantitative Study, Erica Bell, Bastian Seidel

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

Background: The benchmarking literature has made important advances and offers many different population health indicators that can be used to compare state health systems. However, there is still a need for qualitative, complexity-oriented approaches that allow policy-makers to develop explanatory 'policy stories' from combining such indicators that are useful to policy solutions. Methods: A new qualitative method from the social sciences based on Boolean approaches, called Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), was piloted in a 'real world' policy consultancy to combine Australian state-level indicators of community and health system inputs, interventions, and population health outcomes. Analyses were provided for state inputs …

A Qualitative Study On Tobacco Smoking And Betel Quid Use Among Burmese Refugees In Australia, Susan Furber, Janet Jackson, Keryn Johnson, Radmila Sukara, Lisa Franco

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

Anecdotal evidence suggests that there are high rates of smoking among Burmese men in Wollongong, Australia. A qualitative study was undertaken to explore the beliefs and experiences of Burmese refugees in Wollongong on smoking to guide the development of smoking cessation interventions. Three focus groups were conducted with Burmese refugees. Ten semi-structured interviews were conducted with service providers involved with Burmese refugees. Qualitative content analysis was used to categorise responses to the questions. Participants were aware of the health effects of tobacco smoking but had little knowledge of support for quitting. Many participants chewed betel quid and were unaware of …

Theoretical Study On The Ring-Opening Reactions Of Cyclopropenes Mediated By A Aui Complex, Nasir Ahmad Rajabi, Mona Jalali Atashgah, Rasool Babaahmadi, Christopher Hyland, Alireza Ariafard

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

DFT calculations have been carried out in order to rationalize and predict the ring-opening regioselectivity of substituted cyclopropenes in the presence of gold(I) catalysts. It has been shown that the regioselectivity of these ring-opening processes is driven by the relative π-donor ability of the substituents on the cyclopropene double bond (C1 and C2). A stronger π-donor substituent at C2 favors Au(I)-induced polarization of the double bond toward C1, resulting in preferential breaking of the C1–C3 bond. An excellent correlation between ΔE and the difference in the C1–C2 p(π) orbital population was observed for a broad range of substituents, providing a …

Interlaboratory Study For Coral Sr/Ca And Other Element/Ca Ratio Measurements, Ed C. Hathorne, Alex Gagnon, Thomas Felis, Jess Adkins, Ryuji Asami, Wim Boer, Nicolas Caillon, David Case, Kim M. Cobb, Eric Douville, Peter Demenocal, Anton Eisenhauer, Dieter Garbe-Schonberg, Walter Geibert, Steven Goldstein, Konrad Hughen, Mayuri Inoue, Hodaka Kawahata, Martin Kolling, Florence L. Cornec, Braddock K. Linsley, Helen V. Mcgregor, Paolo Montagna, Intan S. Nurhati, Terrence M. Quinn, Jacek Raddatz, Helene Rebaubier, Laura Robinson, Aleksey Sadekov, Robert Sherrell, Dan Sinclair, Alexander W. Tudhope, Gangjian Wei, Henri Wong, Henry C. Wu, Chen-Feng You

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

The Sr/Ca ratio of coral aragonite is used to reconstruct past sea surface temperature (SST). Twenty-one laboratories took part in an interlaboratory study of coral Sr/Ca measurements. Results show interlaboratory bias can be significant, and in the extreme case could result in a range in SST estimates of 7°C. However, most of the data fall within a narrower range and the Porites coral reference material JCp-1 is now characterized well enough to have a certified Sr/Ca value of 8.838 mmol/mol with an expanded uncertainty of 0.089 mmol/mol following International Association of Geoanalysts (IAG) guidelines. This uncertainty, at the 95% confidence …

A Pilot Study Of Mental Health And Quality-Of-Life Of Caregivers Of Children With Cleft Lip/Palate In India, Mahesh R. Gowda, Nagesh B. Pai, Shae-Leigh C. Vella

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

Background: There has been insufficient and contradictory research to date on the impacts of caring for a child with cleft lip/palate. Therefore this pilot study sought to investigate the mental health and quality of life of primary caregivers of children with cleft lip/palate. Materials and Methods: Seventy-nine primary caregivers of children with cleft lip/palate awaiting a surgical procedure in India completed questionnaires to measure their mental health, quality of life, and demographic variables. Results: The results indicated that half of the sample suffered from poor mental health and a reduced quality of life. Overall perceptions of quality of life were …

Self-Reported Side Effects Of Breast Cancer Treatment: A Cross-Sectional Study Of Incidence, Associations, And The Influence Of Exercise, Sheridan A. Gho, Julie R. Steele, Sandra C. Jones, Bridget J. Munro

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

Purpose Side effects as a result of breast cancer treatment may have a lasting detrimental impact on quality of life. Exercise has been shown to be an effective intervention in post-treatment care. This study aimed to gain a better understanding of breast cancer treatment-related side effects through identifying potential patient characteristic associations, including current levels of exercise.

Methods Four hundred and thirty-two breast cancer patients completed an online survey covering their treatment and demographic background, current exercise levels, and self-reported treatment side effects. Side effects were considered in a binary logistic regression against age, surgery, currently undergoing treatment, and exercise …

Australian General Practitioner Perceptions Of The Detection And Screening Of At-Risk Drinking, And The Role Of The Audit-C: A Qualitative Study, Chun Wah Michael Tam, Nicholas Arnold Zwar, Roslyn Markham

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

Background: At-risk drinking is common in Australia. Validated screening tools such as the AUDIT-C have been promoted to general practitioners (GPs), but appear rarely used and detection of at-risk drinking in primary care remains low. We sought to describe Australian GP perceptions of the detection and screening of at-risk drinking; to understand their low uptake of alcohol screening questionnaires, and in particular, their attitude to the adoption of the AUDIT-C. Methods. Semi-structured focus group interviews of four groups of GPs and GP trainees were conducted in metropolitan Sydney between August and October 2011. Audio recordings were transcribed and analysed using …

Non-Invasive Detection Of Microvascular Changes In A Paediatric And Adolescent Population With Type 1 Diabetes: A Pilot Cross-Sectional Study, Sarah P. M Hosking, Rani Bhatia, Patricia A. Crock, Ian M. R Wright, Marline L. Squance, Glenn Reeves

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

Background: The detection of microvascular damage in type 1 diabetes is difficult and traditional investigations do not detect changes until they are well established. The purpose of this study was to investigate the combined ability of nailfold capillaroscopy, laser Doppler flowmetry, retinal vessel analysis and 24-hr ambulatory blood pressure monitoring to detect early microvascular changes in a paediatric and adolescent population with type 1 diabetes.

Methods: Patients aged between 8 – 18 years with type I diabetes and no other autoimmune conditions were studied. The participants underwent the above cardiac and vascular investigations in a single three-hour session. Standard parameters …