Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Will Kate Survive Kate: Review 2, Kate Montague

RadioDoc Review

Masako Fukui’s radio documentary Will Kate Survive Kate is a tender portrait of a young woman’s battle with an eating disorder. The use of conventional interviews, recorded conversations, audio diaries, and fly-on-the-wall style observational recordings, contribute to a rich and layered documentary work. The anonymity of radio provided Kate the opportunity to articulate her experience without the distraction of her visual representation. And the use of intimate audio diary recordings, and script from written diaries, allowed Kate a degree of co-authorship in the documentary. Fukui’s compassionate approach is reflected in the deeply personal quality of the storytelling that is shared. …

Will Kate Survive Kate? Review 1, Laura Starecheski

RadioDoc Review

To craft a narrative with a dramatic arc out of an onerous battle with illness, when no sure recovery is in sight: this was the task facing Will Kate Survive Kate? producer Masako Fukui when she set out to document a year in the life of 'Kate'—a 29-year-old Australian woman battling—and at times tightly holding on to—anorexia nervosa. Kate’s family wants her to eat—to triumph over her illness—and for complicated and frustrating reasons, she can’t bring herself to do it. For Kate, this is a matter of life and death. At the heart of Kate’s story is the acknowledgment that …

Continuity Of Mammalian Fauna Over The Last 200,000 Y In The Indian Subcontinent, Patrick Roberts, Eric Delson, Preston Miracle, Peter Ditchfield, Richard G. Roberts, Zenobia Jacobs, James Blinkhorn, Russell L. Ciochon, John G. Fleagle, Stephen R. Frost, Christopher C. Gilbert, Greg F. Gunnell, Terry Harrison, Ravi Korisettar, Michael D. Petraglia

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

Mammalian extinction worldwide during the Late Pleistocene has been a major focus for Quaternary biochronology and paleoecology. These extinctions have been variably attributed to the impacts of climate change and human interference. However, until relatively recently, research has been largely restricted to the Americas, Europe, and Australasia. We present the oldest Middle-Late Pleistocene stratified and numerically dated faunal succession for the Indian subcontinent from the Billasurgam cave complex. Our data demonstrate continuity of 20 of 21 identified mammalian taxa from at least 100,000 y ago to the present, and in some cases up to 200,000 y ago. Comparison of this …

The Hospital Always Wins: Review 2, Michelle Boyd

RadioDoc Review

This documentary raises crucial questions about our definitions of mental health and healing as well as the meaning of forgiveness. It also illustrates how an individual’s ability to extract themselves from the grip of institutional power is highly dependent on luck and money and privilege. Perhaps most importantly, this piece gives voice, in a complex, respectful manner, to Ibrahim and other schizophrenics whose struggles remain buried and ignored. One element that is missing from this story is an account of how race complicates this unequal power dynamic. Ibrahim is black… “Hospital’s” impact might have been even wider had …

The Hospital Always Wins: Review 1, Sharon Davis

RadioDoc Review

This documentary gives a graphic and challenging insight into the thinking of a schizophrenic mind. But whose story is it, producer Laura Starecheski’s or mental inpatient Issa Ibrahim’s? The process of recording a documentary over such a long period of time (ten years) is tough and always difficult to negotiate. What starts out as a journalistic exercise becomes something very different as your relationship develops over time with the people you are recording. Here, it’s the narrator who drives the story on, weaving in and out of the interviews and actuality, and it’s the strength of the writing that compels …

Heme Consumption Reduces Hepatic Triglyceride And Fatty Acid Accumulation In A Rat Model Of Nafld Fed Westernized Diet, Soon Yew Tang, Irwin Kee M. Cheah, Pei Ern Ng, Aina Hoi, Andrew M. Jenner

Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute

Studies have identified that serum-free hemoglobin subunits correlate positively with the severity of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). However, the role of hemoglobin in the development of NAFLD remains unclear. In the present study, a rat model of NAFLD was developed, using a westernized diet high in saturated fat and refined sugar. Since a "westernized" diet is also high in red meat, we tested the effect of hemoglobin as a dietary source of heme in our model. Sprague-Dawley rats were fed ad libitum for 4 weeks either control diet (7% fat), westernized diet (WD, 18% fat + 1% cholesterol), hemoglobin …

Expression And Purification Of Chaperone-Active Recombinant Clusterin, Rebecca Dabbs, Mark R. Wilson

Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute

Clusterin was the first described secreted mammalian chaperone and is implicated as being a key player in both intra- and extracellular proteostasis. Its unique combination of structural features and biological chaperone activity has, however, previously made it very challenging to express and purify the protein in a correctly processed and chaperone-active form. While there are multiple reports in the literature describing the use of recombinant clusterin, all of these reports suffer from one or more of the following shortcomings: details of the methods used to produce the protein are poorly described, the product is incompletely (if at all) characterised, and …

Determination Of Anti-Inflammatory Activities Of Standardised Preparations Of Plant- And Mushroom-Based Foods, Dhanushka Gunawardena, Kirubakaran Shanmugam, Suresh Govindaraghavan, Mitchell Low, Louise Bennett, Richard Head, Lezanne Ooi, Gerald Münch

Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute

Purpose: Chronic inflammatory processes contribute to the pathogenesis of many age-related diseases. In search of anti-inflammatory foods, we have systematically screened a variety of common dietary plants and mushrooms for their anti-inflammatory activity.

Methods: A selection of 115 samples was prepared by a generic food-compatible processing method involving heating. These products were tested for their anti-inflammatory activity in murine N11 microglia and RAW 264.7 macrophages, using nitric oxide (NO) and tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) as pro-inflammatory readouts.

Results: Ten food samples including lime zest, English breakfast tea, honey-brown mushroom, button mushroom, oyster mushroom, cinnamon and cloves inhibited NO production in …

Plasmin(Ogen) Acquisition By Group A Streptococcus Protects Against C3b-Mediated Neutrophil Killing, Diane Ly, Jude Taylor, James A. Tsatsaronis, Mercedes M. Monteleone, Amanda Skora, Cortny A. Donald, Tracy A. Maddocks, Victor Nizet, Nicholas P. West, Marie Ranson, Mark J. Walker, Jason D. Mcarthur, Martina L. Sanderson-Smith

Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute

The globally significant human pathogen group A Streptococcus (GAS) sequesters the host protease plasmin to the cell surface during invasive disease initiation. Recent evidence has shown that localized plasmin activity prevents opsonization of several bacterial species by key components of the innate immune system in vitro. Here we demonstrate that plasmin at the GAS cell surface resulted in degradation of complement factor C3b, and that plasminogen acquisition is associated with a decrease in C3b opsonization and neutrophil-mediated killing in vitro. Furthermore, the ability to acquire cell surface plasmin(ogen) correlates directly with a decrease in C3b opsonization, neutrophil phagocytosis, and increased …

Olanzapine Reduced Brown Adipose Tissue Thermogenesis And Locomotor Activity In Female Rats, Qingsheng Zhang, Jiamei Lian, Meng He, Chao Deng, Hongqin Wang, Xu-Feng Huang

Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute

Excessive weight gain has been identified as a serious metabolic side-effect of second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs), including olanzapine. While hyperphagia has been suggested to be the main contributor for this side-effect in the short term, reduced energy expenditure, in particular thermogenesis and locomotor activity, has been considered to contribute to the maintenance of heavy weight under long-term SGA treatments. Recent studies have identified metabolically active brown adipose tissues (BAT) in adult humans, suggesting potential clinical significance for the involvement of BAT thermogenesis in SGA-induced weight gain. However, to date there has been little research elucidating the central neuronal pathways affecting BAT …

Central Inflammation And Leptin Resistance Are Attenuated By Ginsenoside Rb1 Treatment In Obese Mice Fed A High-Fat Diet, Yizhen Wu, Yinghua Yu, Alexander Szabo, Mei Han, Xu-Feng Huang

Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute

A low-grade pro-inflammatory state is at the pathogenic core of obesity and type 2 diabetes. We tested the hypothesis that the plant terpenoid compound ginsenoside Rb1 (Rb1), known to exert anti-inflammatory effects, would ameliorate obesity, obesity-associated inflammation and glucose intolerance in the high-fat diet-induced obese mouse model. Furthermore, we examined the effect of Rb1 treatment on central leptin sensitivity and the leptin signaling pathway in the hypothalamus. We found that intraperitoneal injections of Rb1 (14 mg/kg, daily) for 21 days significantly reduced body weight gain, fat mass accumulation, and improved glucose tolerance in obese mice on a HF diet compared …

Insulin Induces Drug Resistance In Melanoma Through Activation Of The Pi3k/Akt Pathway, Mengna Chi, Yan Ye, Xu Dong Zhang, Jiezhong Chen

Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute

Introduction: There is currently no curative treatment for melanoma once the disease spreads beyond the original site. Although activation of the PI3K/Akt pathway resulting from genetic mutations and epigenetic deregulation of its major regulators is known to cause resistance of melanoma to therapeutic agents, including the conventional chemotherapeutic drug dacarbazine and the Food and Drug Administration-approved mutant BRAF inhibitors vemurafenib and dabrafenib, the role of extracellular stimuli of the pathway, such as insulin, in drug resistance of melanoma remains less understood. Objective: To investigate the effect of insulin on the response of melanoma cells to dacarbazine, and in particular, the …

Hypothalamic Histamine H1 Receptor-Ampk Signaling Time-Dependently Mediates Olanzapine-Induced Hyperphagia And Weight Gain In Female Rats, Meng He, Qingsheng Zhang, Chao Deng, Hongqin Wang, Jiamei Lian, Xu-Feng Huang

Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute

Although second-generation antipsychotics induce severe weight gain and obesity, there is a lack of detailed knowledge about the progressive development of antipsychotic-induced obesity. This study examined the hypothalamic histamine H1 receptor and AMP-activated protein kinase (H1R-AMPK) signaling at three distinctive stages of olanzapine-induced weight gain (day 1-12: early acceleration, day 13-28: middle new equilibrium, and day 29-36: late heavy weight maintenance). At the early acceleration stage, the rats were hyperphagic with an underlying mechanism of olanzapine-increased H1R mRNA expression and AMPK phosphorylation (pAMPK), in which pAMPK levels positively correlated with H1R mRNA expression and food intake. At the middle stage, …

Negativity Towards Negative Results: A Discussion Of The Disconnect Between Scientific Worth And Scientific Culture, Natalie Matosin, Elisabeth Frank, Martin Engel, Jeremy S. Lum, Kelly Newell

Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute

Science is often romanticised as a flawless system of knowledge building, where scientists work together to systematically find answers. In reality, this is not always the case. Dissemination of results are straightforward when the findings are positive, but what happens when you obtain results that support the null hypothesis, or do not fit with the current scientific thinking? In this Editorial, we discuss the issues surrounding publication bias and the difficulty in communicating negative results. Negative findings are a valuable component of the scientific literature because they force us to critically evaluate and validate our current thinking, and fundamentally move …

Probenecid Blocks Human P2x7 Receptor-Induced Dye Uptake Via A Pannexin-1 Independent Mechanism, Archana Bhaskaracharya, Phuong Dao-Ung, Iman Jalilian, Mari Spildrejorde, Kristen K. Skarratt, Stephen Fuller, Ronald Sluyter, Leanne Stokes

Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute

P2X7 is a ligand-gated ion channel which is activated by ATP and displays secondary permeability characteristics. The mechanism of development of the secondary permeability pathway is currently unclear, although a role for the hemichannel protein pannexin-1 has been suggested. In this study we investigated the role of pannexin-1 in P2X7-induced dye uptake and ATP-induced IL-1β secretion from human monocytes. We found no pharmacological evidence for involvement of pannexin-1 in P2X7-mediated dye uptake in transfected HEK-293 cells with no inhibition seen for carbenoxolone and the pannexin-1 mimetic inhibitory peptide, 10Panx1. However, we found that probenecid inhibited P2X7-induced cationic and anionic dye …

Altered Ceramide Acyl Chain Length And Ceramide Synthase Gene Expression In Parkinson's Disease, Sarah Abbott, Hongyun Li, Sonia Sanz Munoz, Bianca Knoch, Marijka Batterham, Karen E. Murphy, Glenda M. Halliday, Brett Garner

Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute

Genetic studies have provided increasing evidence that ceramide homeostasis plays a role in neurodegenerative diseases including Parkinson's disease (PD). It is known that the relative amounts of different ceramide molecular species, as defined by their fatty acyl chain length, regulate ceramide function in lipid membranes and in signaling pathways. In the present study we used a comprehensive sphingolipidomic case-control approach to determine the effects of PD on ceramide composition in postmortem brain tissue from the anterior cingulate cortex (a region with significant PD pathology) and the occipital cortex (spared in PD), also assessing mRNA expression of the major ceramide synthase …

Foods And Food Components In The Mediterranean Diet: Supporting Overall Effects, Linda Tapsell

Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute

The recent publication of the PREDIMED trial provided definitive evidence that a Mediterranean diet provides protection against cardiovascular disease. Two articles published in BMC Medicine provide further understanding of why this may be the case, by considering contributory effects of olive oil, a core food in the diet, and polyphenols, a class of identifiable protective compounds. Using a number of statistical models, analyses were conducted to show around a 35% cardiovascular disease risk reduction in the highest consumers of olive oil and a similar degree of risk reduction for all-cause mortality comparing highest to lowest quintiles of polyphenol intake. The …

A Novel Population Health Data Source To Inform Local Planning: The Simlr Study, Darren J. Mayne, Andrew Bonney, Bryan Jones, Lawrence Bott, Stephen Andersen, Peter Caputi, Donald C. Iverson

Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute

Abstract of a paper that was presented at 2014 Primary Health Care Research Conference, Canberra, Australia, 23-25 July.

Trust, Continuity And Agency: Keys To Understanding Older Patients' Attitudes To General Practice Trainees, Andrew Bonney, Sandra C. Jones, Donald C. Iverson, Christopher Magee

Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute

Background: Populations are ageing and therefore non-communicable diseases are becoming leading causes of global morbidity, which need to be the focus of primary care services and training. Some older patients are uncomfortable with general practitioner (GP) trainees managing their chronic conditions, reducing clinical experience opportunities for trainees. This Australian cross-sectional study explored the factors underlying patients' attitudes to trainees in an agency theory framework. Methods: Fifty patients aged 60 and over from each of 38 training practices were offered a questionnaire after their consultation. Principal component analysis of the results was undertaken. Factor scores were calculated. Binary logistic modelling was …

Validating The Western Neuro Sensory Stimulation Profile For Patients With Severe Traumatic Brain Injury Who Are Slow-To-Recover, Anne Cusick, Natasha Lannin, Robyn Hanssen, Jeanine Allaous

Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute

Background/aim The Western Neuro Sensory Stimulation Profile (WNSSP) is designed to measure disorders of consciousness in people with severe traumatic brain injury who are slow-to-recover. This study explores internal consistency reliability and concurrent validity of the WNSSP with function and two other consciousness measures. Method Retrospective chart audit of all severe traumatic brain injury patients admitted to a specialist neurological rehabilitation centre from January 2001 to December 2006 in a vegetative or minimally conscious state. Medical record of demographical, clinical and Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) data were recorded. To be included in the study, patients needed admission and discharge WNSSP …

The Molecular Mechanisms Underpinning The Therapeutic Properties Of Oleanolic Acid, Its Isomer And Derivatives For Type 2 Diabetes And Associated Complications, Danielle Camer, Yinghua Yu, Alexander Szabo, Xu-Feng Huang

Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute

Recent research has uncovered the molecular mechanisms responsible for the therapeutic properties of oleanolic acid (OA), its isomer ursolic acid (UA), and derivatives. In particular, recent reports have highlighted the benefits of these compounds in the prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetes and associated life-threatening complications, such as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, nephropathy, retinopathy, and atherosclerosis. The prevalence of type 2 diabetes is of major concern since it is reaching global epidemic levels. Treatments targeting the signaling pathways altered in type 2 diabetes are being actively investigated, and OA and UA in natural and derivative forms are potential candidates …

Host Responses To Group A Streptococcus: Cell Death And Inflammation, James A. Tsatsaronis, Mark J. Walker, Martina L. Sanderson-Smith

Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute

Article About the Authors Metrics Comments Related Content Abstract Introduction Leukocyte Recognition of GAS and Signalling Pathways Excessive Host Responses Contributing to GAS Disease Pathology Host Leukocyte Cell Death Responses Epithelial Cell Apoptotic Responses GAS-Induced Autophagy Discussion References Reader Comments (0) Figures Abstract Infections caused by group A Streptococcus (GAS) are characterized by robust inflammatory responses and can rapidly lead to life-threatening disease manifestations. However, host mechanisms that respond to GAS, which may influence disease pathology, are understudied. Recent works indicate that GAS infection is recognized by multiple extracellular and intracellular receptors and activates cell signalling via discrete pathways. Host …

Different Effects Of Bifeprunox, Aripiprazole, And Haloperidol On Body Weight Gain, Food And Water Intake, And Locomotor Activity In Rats, Michael De Santis, Bo Pan, Jiamei Lian, Xu-Feng Huang, Chao Deng

Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute

Following on the success of Aripiprazole with its high clinical efficacy and minimal side effects, further antipsychotic drugs (such as Bifeprunox) have been developed based on the same dopamine D2 partial agonist pharmacological profile as Aripiprazole. However clinical trials of Bifeprunox have found differing results to that of its predecessor, without the same significant clinical efficacy. This study has therefore investigated the different effects of 10 week treatment with Aripiprazole (0.75 mg/kg, 3 times per day), Bifeprunox (0.8 mg/kg, 3 times per day) and Haloperidol (0.1 mg/kg, 3 times per day) on body weight gain, food and water intake, white …

The Common Acid Sphingomyelinase Polymorphism P.G508r Is Associated With Self-Reported Allergy, Martin Reichel, Tanja Richter-Schmidinger, Christiane Muhle, Cosima Rhein, Panagiotis Alexopoulos, Sibylle G. Schwab, Erich Gulbins, Johannes Kornhuber

Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute

Background: Acid sphingomyelinase (ASM) is a key regulator of ceramide-dependent signalling pathways. Among others, activation of ASM can be induced by CD95 or cytokine signalling and by cellular stress resulting from inflammation or infection. Increased ASM activity was observed in a variety of human diseases including inflammatory and neuropsychiatric disorders. We hypothesized that basal ASM activity might influence the susceptibility for common human diseases. Methods: The general health condition of 100 young people was assessed using a questionnaire. The ASM polymorphism rs1050239 (c.1522G>A; encoding p.G508R) was determined from genomic DNA. Activities of secretory (S-) and lysosomal (L-) ASM were …

Comment On: Oleanolic Acid Co-Administration Alleviates Ethanol-Induced Hepatic Injury Via Nrf-2 And Ethanol-Metabolizing Modulation (Sic) In Rats, Danielle Camer, Xu-Feng Huang

Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute

To the Editor: Alcohol induced hepatic oxidative stress and inflammation is known to cause liver injury. An increase in reactive oxidative species (ROS) from alcohol consumption leads to oxidative stress [1]. This can activate the inflammatory cytokines, IL-6 and TNF-α which promote liver injury. Both IL-6 and TNF-α are activated and transcribed by the inflammatory molecule, NFκB [2]. We read the interesting paper by Liu et al., entitled, “Oleanolic acid co-administration alleviates ethanol-induced hepatic injury via Nrf-2 and ethanol-metabolizing modulating in rats”, published in your journal recently [3]. The authors demonstrated that oleanolic acid can reduce hepatic injury by elevating …

The Endothelin Pathway: A Protective Or Detrimental Target Of Bardoxolone Methyl On Cardiac Function In Patients With Advanced Chronic Kidney Disease?, Danielle Camer, Xu-Feng Huang

Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute

Bardoxolone methyl has been reported to cause detrimental cardiovascular events in the terminated BEACON Phase III human clinical trial via modulation of the renal endothelin pathway. However, the effects of bardoxolone methyl administration on the endothelin pathway in the heart are unknown. Our purpose in this perspective is to highlight the distinctive opposing roles of the renal and heart endothelin pathway in cardiac function. Furthermore, we address the need for further investigation in order to determine if bardoxolone methyl has a protective role in cardiac function through the suppression of the endothelin pathway in the heart.

Regulation Of A Trkb Alternative Transcript By Micrornas, Jenny Wong

Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute

Background/Aims: Tropomyosin-related kinase B receptor (TrkB)-mediated signaling is vital for neuronal differentiation, survival, plasticity, and cognition. In this study, the focus was placed on TrkB-Shc, a neuron-specific transcript, to determine if microRNAs (miRNAs) play a role in TrkB-Shc regulation. Methods: A combination of bioinformatics and molecular gene expression analysis techniques was used to assess the effect of miR-409-3p and miR-216b on TrkB-Shc expression. Results: miR-409-3p and miR-216b were found to regulate the TrkB-Shc 3′UTR through the identified putative binding sites. When the effect of the miRNAs on TrkB was assessed using SHSY5Y neuronal cells, differential effects were observed between mRNA …

Effects Of Olanzapine On The Elevation Of Macrophage Infiltration And Pro-Inflammatory Cytokine Expression In Female Rats, Qingsheng Zhang, Meng He, Chao Deng, Hongqin Wang, Xu-Feng Huang

Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute

The metabolic side-effects of olanzapine have undermined drug compliance and increased concern for this otherwise-effective treatment for schizophrenia. As obesity and type 2 diabetes are associated with low-grade inflammation, and olanzapine-induced weight gain has three typical stages, the current study investigated the inflammatory effects of olanzapine in three treatment stages. Female Sprague-Dawley rats were treated orally with olanzapine (1 mg/kg three times daily) or vehicle for one week, two weeks, and five weeks. Olanzapine significantly increased body weight and white visceral fat deposition in all three treatment stages compared to control. Olanzapine enhanced average adipocyte size and level of macrophage …

Cancer Biology: Molecular And Genetic Basis, Ulrich A. Bommer, Kara L. Vine, Oncology Education Committee Cancer Council Australia

Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute

Cancer is a disease of uncontrolled growth and proliferation whereby cells have escaped the body's normal growth control mechanisms and have gained the ability to divide indefinitely. It is a multi-step process that requires the accumulation of many genetic changes over time (Figure 1). These genetic alterations involve activation of proto-oncogenes to oncogenes, deregulation of tumour suppressor genes and DNA repair genes and 'immortalisation' which will be discussed in this chapter.

The Ecological Fallacy Of The Role Of Age In Chronic Disease And Hospital Demand, David Whyatt, Raji Tenneti, Julie Marsh, Anna Kemp, Laura Firth, Kevin Murray, Berwin Turlach, Alistair Vickery

Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute

Objective: To examine the relationship between age and all-cause hospital utilization in the years preceding and following a diagnosis in hospital of heart failure, type 2 diabetes, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Research Design: A cohort study of all patients in Western Australia who have had a principal diagnosis of heart failure, type 2 diabetes, or COPD, upon admission to hospital. All-cause hospital utilization 6 years preceding and 4 years following cardinal events, that is, a disease-specific diagnosis upon hospital admission, where such an event has not occurred in the previous 2 years, are examined in specific age groups. …