Digital Commons Network^™

Sirtuin-1 Mediates The Obesity Induced Risk Of Common Degenerative Diseases: Alzheimer's Disease, Coronary Artery Disease And Type 2 Diabetes, Ian Martins, Andrea Wilson, Wei Ling Lim, Simon Laws, Stephanie Fuller, Ralph Martins

Research outputs 2012

Obesity, especially at mid-life, is a major risk factor for atherosclerosis, insulin resistance and the metabolic syndrome, which in turn contrib- ute to coronary artery disease (CAD), Type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The rise in overweight and obesity in all societies is prompting intense research into the causes and effects of the condition. Obesity disrupts many body systems including glucose and lipid me- tabolism, circadian rhythms and liver function. It also causes or increases inflammation and oxi- dative stress. Within cells, the endoplasmic re- ticulum (ER) appears to be particularly suscep- tible to such metabolic disruption. Sirtuin 1 …

Health Education In Teacher Education: Evaluation Of Learning Design With Embedded Personal Wellness Learning And Assessment Focus, Zali Yager

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper describes the use of a personal and professional approach to pre-service teacher education that allows trainee teachers to focus on their own wellbeing as well as how they might improve the wellbeing of their future students. ‘Concepts of Wellbeing’ was taught to all Bachelor of Education students and included a wellness curriculum, Social and Emotional Learning, and embedded transformative assessment. Mixed methods evaluation research was used to determine student perceptions of the impact on their learning and wellbeing. The main themes that emerged were that assessment was transformative and seen as important to the student’s learning; and that …

Locating Child Protection In Preservice Teacher Education, Kerryann Walsh, Louise Laskey, Elspeth Mcinnes, Ann Farrell, Ben Mathews, Freda Briggs

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

A recent report delivered by the Australian Centre for Child Protection has highlighted the need for empirical evidence of effective pedagogies for supporting teaching and learning of child protection content in Australian teacher education programs (Arnold & Maio-Taddeo, 2007). This paper advances this call by presenting case study accounts of different approaches to teaching child protection content in University-based teacher education programs across three Australian States. These different cases provide a basis for understanding existing strategies as an important precursor to improving practice. Although preschool, primary and secondary schools have been involved in efforts to protect children from abuse and …

Culturally And Linguistically Diverse Carers' Perceptions Of The Cultural Appropriateness Of Carer Support Services: An Exploratory Study, Andrea Creado

Theses : Honours

Research on service utilisation by primary family carers has highlighted that carers from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds face specific barriers in accessing services, such as lack of culturally appropriate services, communication issues, prejudice, feelings of failure and misunderstanding of mental illness. However, little is known about how to best overcome these factors from the carers' perspective. The aim of this study was to investigate the perceptions CALD carers had of the cultural appropriateness of carers' support services available in Perth. Ten primary family carers from CALD backgrounds participated in a semi-structured interview to explore their perceptions of existing …

Review Of Indigenous Male Health, Neil Thomson, Richard Midford, Olivier Debuyst, Andrea Macrae

Research outputs pre 2011

No abstract provided.

Enhancing Nutritional Learning Outcomes Within A Simulation And Pervasive Game-Based Strategy [Conference Paper], Mark Mcmahon, Shane Henderson

Research outputs 2011

Games are often seen as a means of enhancing motivation in learning. Despite the rhetoric, however, games that provide quality experiences for learners are hard to find. One reasoning is the focus on the game medium without a clear understanding of the strategy behind it. This paper outlines a game designed to raise primary school-aged children’s awareness of nutritional issues using simulation and pervasive gaming strategies. Nute implements ubiquitous mobile technology and QR Code scanning to allow players to engage in virtual shopping. The effects of their dietary choices are manifest in a simulated character, Nute, who has similar dietary …

Long-Term Effects Of A Protein-Enriched Diet On Blood Pressure In Older Women, Jonathon Hodgson, Kun Zhu, Joshua Lewis, Deborah Kerr, Xingqiong Meng, Vicky Solah, Amanda Devine, Colin Binns, Richard Woodman, Richard Prince

Research outputs 2011

Short-term randomised, controlled trials have found that dietary protein relative to carbohydrate can reduce blood pressure. Our objective was to investigate the effects on blood pressure of an increase in protein intake from whey over 2 years in women aged over 70 years. From the general population, 219 women aged between 70 and 80 years were recruited to a 2-year randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled parallel-design trial: 181 women completed the trial to the end of year 2. Participants were randomly assigned to consume a daily whey protein-based beverage (protein) or an energy-matched low-protein high-carbohydrate beverage (control). Blood pressure measurements were performed …

Plants As Objects: Challenges For An Aesthetics Of Flora, John Charles Ryan

Research outputs 2011

This paper presents the conceptual challenges to an aesthetic model of living plants based in embodied interaction with flora through smell, taste, touch, sound and sight. I argue that the science of aesthetics is deterministically visual. Drawing from theories of landscape aesthetics put forth by Carlson and Berleant, I outline four primary obstacles to an embodied aesthetics: plants as objects of sight, plants as objects of art, plants as objects of disinterestedness and plants as objects of scientific discourse. A multi-sensorial aesthetics of flora requires auto-centric proximity and degrees of intersubjectivity between the appreciator and the appreciated plant that raise …

Circadian Rhythms In Exercise Performance: Implications For Hormonal And Muscular Adaptation, Weipeng Teo, Michael Newton, Michael Mcguigan

Research outputs 2011

Almost all physiological and biochemical processes within the human body follow a circadian rhythm (CR). In humans, the suprachiasmatic nucleus regulates sleep-wake cycle and other daily biorhythms in line with solar time. Due to such daily physiological fluctuations, several investigations on neuromuscular performance have reported a distinct CR during exercise. Generally, peak performances have been found to occur in the early evening, at approximately the peak of core body temperature. The increase in core body temperature has been found to increase energy metabolism, improve muscle compliance and facilitate actin-myosin crossbridging. In addition, steroidal hormones such as testosterone (T) and cortisol …

Evaluation Of A Resistance Training Program For Adults With Or At Risk Of Developing Diabetes: An Effectiveness Study In A Community Setting, Karl Minges, Glen Cormick, Edna Unglik, David Dunstan

Research outputs 2011

Background: To examine the effects of a community-based resistance training program (Lift for Life (R)) on waist circumference and functional measures in adults with or at risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Methods: Lift for Life is a research-to-practice initiative designed to disseminate an evidence-based resistance training program for adults with or at risk of developing type 2 diabetes to existing health and fitness facilities in the Australian community. A retrospective assessment was undertaken on 86 participants who had accessed the program within 4 active providers in Melbourne, Australia. The primary goal of this longitudinal study was to assess the …

A Randomized Controlled Trial Of Whole Body Vibration Exposure On Markers Of Bone Turn-Over In Postmenopausal Women, Sarah Turner, Margaret Torode, Mike Climstein, Geraldine Naughton, David Greene, Michael Baker, Maria Fiatarone Singh

Research outputs 2011

Purpose. To examine the effects of two doses of low-frequency (12 Hz), low-magnitude (0.3 g), whole body vibration on markers of bone formation and resorption in postmenopausal women. Methods. Women were recruited and randomized into a sham vibration control group, one time per week vibration group (1×/week), or three times per week vibration group (3×/week). Vibration exposure consisted of 20 minutes of intermittent vibration for the 1×/week and 3×/week groups, and sham vibration (<0.1 g) for the control group for eight weeks. Double-blinded primary outcome measures were urine markers of bone resorption: N-telopeptide X normalised to creatinine (NTx/Cr) and bone formation: bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (ALP). Results. Forty-six women (59.8 ± 6.2 years, median 7.3 years since menopause) were enrolled. NTx/Cr was significantly reduced (34.6%) in the 3×/wk vibration group but not in the 1×/wk vibration group compared with sham control (P<.01) group. No effect of time or group allocation was observed on the bone formation marker ALP (P=.27). Conclusion. We have shown for the first time that low-frequency, low-magnitude vibration 3×/week for eight weeks in postmenopausal women results in a significant reduction in NTx/Cr, a marker of bone resorption, when compared with sham vibration exposure.

Inoculations With Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Increase Vegetable Yields And Decrease Phoxim Concentrations In Carrot And Green Onion And Their Soils, Fa Yuan Wang, Rui Jian Tong, Zhao Yong Shi, Xiao Feng Xu, Xinhua He

Research outputs 2011

Background As one of the most widely used organophosphate insecticides in vegetable production, phoxim (C12H15N2O3PS) is often found as residues in crops and soils and thus poses a potential threat to public health and environment. Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi may make a contribution to the decrease of organophosphate residues in crops and/or the degradation in soils, but such effects remain unknown. Methodology/Principal Findings A greenhouse pot experiment studied the influence of AM fungi and phoxim application on the growth of carrot and green onion, and phoxim concentrations in the two vegetables and their soil media. Treatments included three AM fungal …

The Relationship Between Water, Health And Global Environmental Change, As Interpreted Through Five Key Multilateral Environmental Agreements (Meas), Pierre Horwitz, Lucilla Spini, Kathryn Campbell, R J Thomas, Jo Mulongoy

Research outputs 2011

For five Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs), we have examined the way the relationship between water, health and global environmental change is expressed and how it has evolved recently. We recognize a distinction between an emphasis on water and reservoirs of water for health (for drinking water supplies, sanitation and hygiene), and a focus on places of water, where wetland ecosystems provide a service for human well-being which encompasses health. We also recognize a trend over time for the MEAs to increasingly address water, health and global change issues as a reaction to emerging infectious diseases and global pandemics. For both …

Review Of Indigenous Oral Health, Scott Williams, Lisa Jamieson, Andrea Macrae, A Gray

Research outputs 2011

Indigenous Australians1 have poorer oral health than other Australians [1, 2]. Indigenous people suffer from more caries, periodontal diseases, and tooth loss than non-Indigenous people [3]. Tooth decay among the Indigenous population more commonly goes untreated, leading to more extractions. This discrepancy is attributed in part to the fact that access to culturally appropriate and timely dental care is often not available to Indigenous people, especially in rural and remote areas. Other information on oral health such as culturally appropriate resources about maintaining healthy teeth and mouths, and nutritional guidance on how much sugar is contained in certain foods and …

Attitudes And Behaviour Predict Women's Intention To Drink Alcohol During Pregnancy: The Challenge For Health Professionals, Elizabeth Peadon, Janet Payne, Nadine R. Henley, Heather D'Antoine, Anne Bartu, Colleen O'Leary, Carol Bower, Elizabeth Elliott

Research outputs 2011

Background: To explore women’s alcohol consumption in pregnancy, and potential predictors of alcohol consumption in pregnancy including: demographic characteristics; and women’s knowledge and attitudes regarding alcohol consumption in pregnancy and its effects on the fetus. Methods: We conducted a national cross-sectional survey via computer assisted telephone interview of 1103 Australian women aged 18 to 45 years. Participants were randomly selected from the Electronic White Pages. Pregnant women were not eligible to participate. Quotas were set for age groups and a minimum of 100 participants per state to ensure a national sample reflecting the population. The questionnaire was based on a …

Review Of Volatile Substance Use Among Indigenous People, Richard Midford, Sarah Mclean, Michelle Catto, Neil Thomson, Olivier Debuyst

Research outputs 2011

The purpose of this review is to summarise key information from a number of substantial reports and other documents to make it more accessible to people involved in Indigenous health in Australia. The review draws heavily on the work undertaken in the preparation of Volatile substance misuse: a review of interventions. That very important report was authored by Peter d’Abbs and Sarah MacLean, the latter a co-author of this review. This review focuses on Australian Indigenous people, so no substantial attention is directed at the use of volatile substances among other indigenous peoples, or among other disadvantaged people in Australia …

Kids, Toys And Fast Food: An Unhealthy Mix?, Claire Lambert, Richard Mizerski

Research outputs 2011

Increasingly the fast food industry is scrutinised for marketing toy premiums towards young children. Toy premiums are claimed to lure young children to consume unhealthy meal offerings, pester parents, encourage materialism and ultimately lead to a rise in childhood obesity. Numerous studies have commented on the use of toy premiums as a marketing technique, but little research has been conducted on the actual effectiveness of toy premiums targeted to children on consumer purchase behaviour at the point of purchase. This study, investigates the use of a child targeted toy premium (Snoopy) by a fast food company (McDonald’s), and its effect …

Spatial Patterns In Herbivory On A Coral Reef Are Influenced By Structural Complexity But Not By Algal Traits, Adriana Verges, Mathew Vanderklift, C Doropoulos, Glenn Hyndes

Research outputs 2011

No abstract provided.

Encroaching On Freedoms? Values Related To Freedom And Readiness To Accept Social Marketing Activities In Australia And Japanese Students, Kaoru Nosaka

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Do Australian and Japanese university students feel that social marketing is encroaching on their freedoms or empowering them? For example, how do they react to social marketing messages such as ‘Don’t Drink and Drive’ and ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle’? Social marketing activities include advocating for environmental change, laws, and regulations as well as making recommendations to individuals to change behaviours to promote the good of society; however, some people believe that such activities are attempts to control people, infringing upon their individual freedom. While behavioural models and theories have recognised the influence of an individual’s predisposition towards a recommended behaviour (such …

Creating Persuasive Messages To Promote Abstinence From Alcohol During Pregnancy, Kathryn France

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

While the rates of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder within Australia are unknown, the rates of alcohol use during pregnancy and at-risk alcohol use by women of childbearing age highlight the need for universal prevention strategies addressing prenatal alcohol exposure. Though many awareness-raising campaigns for alcohol use during pregnancy have been conducted, predominantly in North America, they have rarely been developed using formative research nor have they been comprehensively evaluated (Saskatchewan Prevention Institute, 2009; Elliott et al., 2008). This lack of published information on the development and evaluation of campaigns makes it difficult to determine what communication elements are most credible …

Educational Evaluation Of Cybersmart Detectives: Final Report: Presented To The Australian Communications And Media Authority (Acma), Julian Dooley, Laura Thomas, Sarah Falconer, Donna Cross, Stacey Waters

Research outputs 2011

The aim of the Australian Communications and Media Authority‟s (ACMA) Cybersmart Detectives (CSD) activity is to teach children key Internet safety messages in a safe school environment. The activity brings together a number of agencies with an interest in promoting online safety for young people, including education, State and Federal Police, government and child welfare advocates. The activity has been played by over 28, 000 students in Australia since initial trials in 2004.

Cybersmart Detectives is offered free to schools by the ACMA as part of the Australian Government‟s commitment to cyber-safety. Based on a real-world Internet safety scenario, the …

The Influence Of Set-Repetition Configuration In Eccentric Exercise On Muscle Damage And Repeated Bout Effect, Roy Y.H. Chan

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

It is well known that maximal eccentric exercise induces muscle damage, especially when it is performed for the first time. However, muscle damage is attenuated in subsequent bouts of the same or similar exercise, which is known as the repeated bout effect. One of the factors affecting the magnitude of muscle damage and the repeated bout effect is the number of eccentric contractions; however, it is unknown if different set-repetition configurations with the same number of eccentric contractions would result in different magnitudes of muscle damage and adaptation. This study investigated changes in muscle strength, range of motion (ROM), muscle …

Factors Influencing Overweight Children's Commencement Of And Continuation In A Resistance Training Program, Melanie Pescud, Simone Pettigrew, Michael R. Mcguigan, Robert Newton

Research outputs pre 2011

Background: In light of the child overweight and obesity problem in Australia, resistance training programs have been trialled as an innovative way of assisting children increase lean body mass and reduce body fat. The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors influencing overweight children's participation in a resistance training trial program.

Method: Parent-child pairs who participated in the trial program were invited to take part in a follow-up individual interview to discuss their program experiences. In total, 22 semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 parent-child pairs.

Results: The factors found to be most relevant to program commencement among …

The Impact Of Consanguinity On Neonatal And Infant Health, Alan H. Bittles, Michael L. Black

Research outputs pre 2011

Marriage between biological relatives is widely popular in many parts of the world, with over 1000 million people living in countries where 20–50+% of unions are contracted between couples related as second cousins or closer. Consanguinity is, however, a controversial topic, in part due to public misunderstanding, complicated by often exaggerated past estimates of the adverse health outcomes. While some consanguineous couples are at high risk of conceiving a child with a genetic disorder, they are a small minority. Thus a multi-population meta-analysis has indicated an excess infant death rate of 1.1% in the progeny of first cousins, and even …

Differences In Satiety Effects Of Alginate- And Whey Protein-Based Foods, Vicky A. Solah, Deborah A. Kerr, Cynthia D. Adikara, Xingqiong Meng, Colin W. Binns, Kun Zhu, Amanda Devine, Richard L. Prince

Research outputs pre 2011

Satiety is important in regulating food intake and has important public health significance in the control of obesity. Food containing protein and non-starch polysaccharides provides a satiety effect through various mechanisms but a comparison of the satiety effect on each has not previously been investigated. This study compared the satiety effect or reduction of hunger after consumption of (i) a whey proteinbased drink versus an alginate-based drink of the same viscosity where only the protein content differed, (ii) two alginate-based drinks differing in alginate type and viscosity, and (iii) a whey protein-based drink versus an alginate-based drink differing in protein …

Living Well With Diabetes: A Randomized Controlled Trial Of A Telephone-Delivered Intervention For Maintenance Of Weight Loss, Physical Activity And Glycaemic Control In Adults With Type 2 Diabetes, Elizabteh Eakin, Marina Reeves, Alison Marshall, David Dunstan, Nicholas Graves, Genevieve Healy, Jonathan Bleier, Adrian Barnett, Trisha O'Moore-Sullivan, Anthony Russell, Ken Wilkie

Research outputs pre 2011

Background By 2025, it is estimated that approximately 1.8 million Australian adults (approximately 8.4% of the adult population) will have diabetes, with the majority having type 2 diabetes. Weight management via improved physical activity and diet is the cornerstone of type 2 diabetes management. However, the majority of weight loss trials in diabetes have evaluated short-term, intensive clinic-based interventions that, while producing short-term outcomes, have failed to address issues of maintenance and broad population reach. Telephone-delivered interventions have the potential to address these gaps. Methods/Design Using a two-arm randomised controlled design, this study will evaluate an 18-month, telephone-delivered, behavioural weight …

Light Reductions Drive Macroinvertebrate Changes In Amphibolis Griffithii Seagrass Habitat, Adam Gartner, Paul S. Lavery, Kathryn Mcmahon, Anne Brearley, Helen Barwick

Research outputs pre 2011

Numerous anthropogenic activities can significantly reduce the amount of light reaching seagrass habitats. Typically these result in morphological and physiological changes to the plant and associated algal epiphytes. However, the flow-on effects to seagrass-dependent fauna induced by these disturbances has yet to be examined. This study investigated the effects of different light reduction intensity (high: ~92% reduction; moderate: ~84% reduction), duration (3, 6 and 9 mo) and timing (post-winter and post-summer) on the density and biomass of macroinvertebrate epifauna within an Amphibolis griffithii seagrass ecosystem (Western Australia). There were generally lower epifauna densities and biomass within shaded seagrass plots. When …

Stable Isotopes Reveal A Consistent Consumer-Diet Relationship Across Hundreds Of Kilometres, Mathew A. Vanderklift, Thomas Wernberg

Research outputs pre 2011

Characterising geographical variation in trophic interactions is an important step towards understanding the consequences of changes in food webs. We characterised geographical variation across ~1000 km in stable isotope values (δ15N and δ13C) of the widely distributed sea urchin Heliocidaris erythrogramma and macroalgae that are its potential food. Variation in δ15N of H. erythrogramma and macroalgae was typically greatest among locations separated by hundreds of km, while variation in δ13C was typically greatest among reefs separated by a few km. Geographical variation in δ15N and δ13C of H. erythrogramma was well-explained by variation in δ15N and δ13C of the kelp …

Review Of Volatile Substance Use Among Indigenous People, Richard Midford, Sarah Maclean, Michelle Catto, Olivier Debuyst

Research outputs pre 2011

No abstract provided.

Overview Of Australian Indigenous Health Status 2010, Neil Thomson, Andrea Macrae, Jane Burns, Michelle Catto, Olivier Debuyst, Ineke Krom, Richard Midford, Christine Potter, Kathy Ride, Sasha Stumpers, Belinda Urquhart

Research outputs pre 2011

No abstract provided.