ANZCTR search results

The proposed study aims to investigate the impact of consuming Hi-Oleic peanuts on vascular function and how this can alter cardiometabolic health as well as cognitive performance. Peanuts have the potential to improve the cardiometabolic risk factors; glucose control, blood lipids, blood pressure and body composition. Peanuts are a source of resveratrol, shown to target endothelial cells and may result in improved circulatory function. The mechanism proposed is through enhancing the availability of nitric oxide (NO), an important vasodilator. The precursor to NO is the amino acid arginine, which is also found in rich supply in peanuts. In addition, the potential cardiometabolic benefits of peanut consumption may also help improve endothelial function. Thus, peanuts contain the precursor, key ingredient and potential cardiometabolic benefits needed to enhance vasodilatation. Impaired vasodilatation is recognised as a key contributor to the development of cardiovascular disease and reduced cognitive performance, due to poor peripheral and cerebral perfusion. This study will test whether cognitive performance and cardiometabolic health in adults is enhanced following daily consumption of peanuts. This may generate novel evidence of inter-relationship between cerebral blood vessel function and cognitive performance and provide a foundation for future studies to evaluate the effects of diet on both cardiovascular and cognitive performance.

This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of an online based behavioural family interaction program. Behavioural family interaction programs are the treatment of choice for conduct problems in children. However due to issues of 'reach' (i.e geographical) and time restrictions not all families are able to access this treatment. Online based interventions have the potential to overcome these barriers and provide families with better access to treatments that would otherwise be unavailable. The aim of this current research is to evaluate whether a online based behavioural family interaction can lead to an increase in pro-social behaviour and effectively reduce aggression and anti-social behaviour comparable to standard behavioural family interaction programs which are usually delivered face to face in a clinic setting. This online based behaviour family interaction program aims to teach parents to modify unhealthy parenting practices by targeting negative reinforcement contingencies operating in the family. Parents through accessing modules in a virtual clinic and via follow-up phone calls with a clinical psychologist are taught to encourage good behaviour by giving positive reinforcement and rewards, and discourage bad behaviour through the provision of consistent, emotionally neutral punishment. It is hypothesised that families receiving the online based program will show comparable improvements in levels of disruptive behaviour, decrease in parental stress and improvements in parenting behaviour to those receiving face to face therapy.

Evidence demonstrates that social cognition training improves social cognition and social functioning in individuals with a psychotic disorder. The aim of this study is to determine the critical cognitive and biological markers underlying the effects of social cognition training and the degree to which they predict changes in social functioning for young people with a psychotic illness. As suggested in the literature, face perception, emotion recognition, theory of mind and attribution bias are key cognitive markers of social functioning in humans. We speculate that OT may further underlie these cognitive changes via feedforward mechanisms stimulated by engaging with social cognition training. This will be investigated by examining the impact of social cognition training on plasma levels. We also directly administer OT in-order to amplify biological and cognitive markers that facilitate improvements in social-functioning. Hypotheses Following SCT treatment, individuals with early psychosis in the SCT + OT + TAU condition compared to SCT + Placebo + TAU condition will demonstrate: Outcome Hypothesis 1. Significant improvement on measures of social cognition and social function. Mechanism Hypothesis 1. OT administration will enhance social-cognitive and biological markers compared to the placebo condition. 2. OT administration will enhance social functioning outcomes following SCT training compared to the placebo group. 3. Changes in biological and social-cognitive markers in both the OT and Placebo SCT groups will predict improvements in social functioning. This association will be stronger in the OT condition given the influence of OT on critical markers will be amplified.

The limited existing empirical evidence has generally pointed towards a discrepancy between objective and subjective outcomes following AmED consumption. This discrepancy has been argued to result in increased alcohol consumption and/or risk-taking post-consumption. However, there is a dearth of research (i) supporting this proposed increase in risk-taking, and (ii) attempting to explain the potential mechanisms underlying any changes in risk-taking post-consumption. Consequently, the aim of the current study will be to examine the subjective physiological and psychological outcomes and objective risk and impulsive behavioural outcomes of independent and combined alcohol and energy drink consumption.

Post-prandial lipemia is an elevation in triglyceride (TG) and chylomicron remnants that occurs after digesting a fat-containing meal. Post-prandial lipemia has been established as a risk factor for atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. However, dietary intake of green tea and aerobic exercise results in lowered post-prandial lipemia. The study will examine the effect of a different form of exercise called high intensity intermittent exercise (HIIE) and green tea on postprandial lipemia.

This study aims to compare a recently released contact lens product to the current market leader. By comparing these lenses, it will allow us to ascertain whether these newly released lenses have achieved their claim. In addition, if the recently released contact lens product is found to be superior to the market leader, further investigations into why it is superior can benefit in the understanding of why contact lens related discomfort and dryness occur and allow for development of further new products to solve this problem.

This study aims to determine if children with cerebral palsy (CP) who have a known tactile sensory deficiency in their hands can have that sense of touch improved, hence improving their overall hand and arm function. The intervention uses a specialised joystick to play a range of custom-made computer games that are aimed at captivating the interest and motivation of children with CP while providing tactile feedback to their hands to increase the realism and sense of game-play. Our hypothesis for this project is that tactile sensory perception can be improved in children with CP through a computer-based program that couples a fun, engaging and motivational activity with an opportunity to experience a range of appropriate sensory inputs.

The rationale of the study is to evaluate the roles of exercise and stretching in enhancing the effectiveness of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy in reducing the symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder. This study compares the relative effectiveness of (a) Cognitive Behaviour Therapy Combined with Exercise, and (b) Cognitive Behaviour Therapy Combined with Stretching, in reducing posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms. It is hypothesised that whereas both conditions will lead to symptom reduction, Cognitive Behaviour Therapy Combined with Exercise will lead to greater symptom reduction than either Cognitive Behaviour Therapy Combined with Stretching.

This study aims to find out if dietary counselling before, during and after your upcoming (chemo)radiotherapy treatment helps to reduce weight loss and improve functioning and fatigue levels. It will also explore if this improves quality of life, severity of treatment symptoms, the number of unexpected admissions to hospital, interruptions to your treatment, response to cancer treatment and survival after treatment. Who is it for? You may be eligible for this study if you are over 18 years of age and due to undergo radiotherapy with or without chemotherapy for non-small cell or small cell lung cancer. Patients with lung cancer are at risk of developing side effects from (chemo)radiotherapy treatment that affect their ability to eat adequately and place them at risk of developing malnutrition. Up to 33% of patient with lung cancer may be malnourished before starting (chemo)radiotherapy and this can increase to 50% after radiotherapy is completed. Patients who are malnourished or underweight have more complications, more symptoms, poorer quality of life, more treatment interruptions, poorer response to cancer treatment and don't survive as long after treatment. Previous research has demonstrated that patients with head and neck and gastrointestinal cancer who received dietary counselling from a dietitian during and after (chemo)radiation lose less weight, have a better quality of life and functioning, and colorectal cancer patients who received dietary counselling survived longer after treatment. Providing dietary counselling from a dietitian during (chemo)radiotherapy treatment for lung cancer has never been tested. Trial Details: You will be randomised to one of two treatment arms, either a medical nutrition therapy arm or usual care. The medical nutrition therapy arm consists of individualised one-on-one dietary counselling in person or over the phone once before treatment starts, weekly during treatment and fortnightly for 6 weeks after treatment. The usual care arm will receive dietary counselling but less frequently and starting during treatment instead of before treatment. The results of this study will be incorporated into existing evidence based guidelines for the nutritional management of patients receiving radiation therapy. These guidelines are used by dietitians and other health professional to provide the best nutritional care to cancer patients.

Consumption of a high fat meal (HFM) can lead to increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Ingestion of a HFM not only increases the fat level in the blood but also damages blood vessels, which overtime can lead to many health problems. Thus, the purpose of the study is to examine the effect of consumption of a HFM alone and the effect of a HFM consumption followed by a combined exercise and green tea ingestion on vascular function. It is predicted that exercise and green tea ingestion will reduce the severity of vascular problems related to a HFM.