ANZCTR search results

This study aims to investigate whether mindfulness practice can improve the cognitive function, psychological health, mindfulness level and functional abilities in activities of daily living of persons with MCI over time. Furthermore, it will address the issues about the way in which the MCI participants and familiar support persons engage with the mindfulness training program, the nature of group interactions during the program, their program experience and expectations about mindfulness practice, the perceived effects of mindfulness on them, and the MCI participants’ challenges in practising mindfulness.

Ultrasound-guided regional anaesthesia (UGRA) is a complex procedural task that anaesthetists must learn. UGRA has been shown to have greater efficacy and safety than other nerve block localisation techniques and is thus the standard of care for performing peripheral nerve blockade. Task deconstruction reveals that bimanual dexterity, hand-eye coordination and sonographic interpretation are some of the skills necessary for performance of UGRA. There is likely to be a correlation with visuospatial aptitude (defined as the ability to generate, retain and manipulate abstract visual images) and superior performance in UGRA in novices. This study aims to evaluate the importance of visuospatial aptitude on the performance of UGRA in both novices and experts and which domains of visual perception are most closely linked to UGRA performance. We will recruit novices to UGRA and administer a series of psychometric tests on visuospatial ability, to identify individuals with higher and lower skills. All novices will be asked to perform non-invasive, ultrasound scanning of the neck and shoulder of healthy human volunteers and their performance on several metrics (image quality, time, stability, and ability to obtain standard images) will be recorded. Experts in UGRA will tested as well, and they provide a control group against whom the novices will be compared to.

Pain is the primary reason for patients to seek medical care. A survey found that 31% of the population in the united state and 19% of adult European population had experienced moderate to severe pain, with serious consequences for their social and working lives. The exorbitant medical treatment costs paid by governments and individuals can be decreased by better therapeutic approaches. Parallel areas of brain are involved in experience of Pain which make it a complex issue to manage. Lateral parallel nuclei and somatosensory cortex (S1) are responsible for discrimination of quality, location, and intensity of pain, whereas medical thalamic nuclei, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), and limbic system have been proposed to subserve emotional dimensions of pain. Furthermore, it is suggested that neural communications between S1 and primary motor cortex (M1) may leads to motor cortex neuroplastisity to reduce movement in order to prevent further injuries. Non-invasive therapeutic approaches, including medication, electrotherapy, and manual therapy, can provide satisfactory pain control in only 20%-30% of cases of pain syndromes. In order to develop a more effective treatment method, it is therefore, needed to test other efficient methods. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), including anodal and cathodal tDCS, is one of the novel painless techniques used by neuroscientists to relieve pain. The optimal parameters, stimulation site and current density, for effective application of tDCS, have not been studied yet. The findings of current study will be used to optimise the effects of new therapeutic approaches for pain relief.

The proposed study aims to assess the efficacy of a single 90-minute session of a Brief Behavioural Activation for Depression (BATD) intervention in treating depressive symptoms in adults. BATD is a single-component intervention that increases access to environmental reward to improve mood. Treatment efficacy will be assessed by comparing outcome measures of a treatment group to a wait-list control group at pre-intervention and post-intervention. It is hypothesised that the treatment group will show significant reductions in self-reported depressive symptoms, as well as increases on measures of environmental reward and valued living, relative to the wait-list control group. It is hypothesised that these gains will be maintained at three-month follow-up.

OUTCOMES The primary outcome measures are *peak duodenal bicarbonate concentration and pancreatic bicarbonate output (bicarbonate volume times bicarbonate concentration) *peak duodenal amylase concentration and amylase concentration area under the curve (time equals 0 to 60 minutes) Secondary outcome measures are *Plasma concentrations of amylase and lipase

Osteoarthritis is a major cause of pain and disability world wide. This study aims to explore the effectiveness of autologous mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) injections in treating OA. This study involves the use of autologous MSC, autologous meaning that the cells are taken from and injected back into the same person. Based on previous animal studies and initial human patients, these MSCs are expected reduce pain and assist in bone and cartilage tissue repair, supporting their potential in the treatment of osteoarthritis.

The treatment of isolated knee cartilage defects remains difficult. Research indicates that these isolated lesions lead to later development of generalised osteoarthritis. Traditional and accepted arthroscopic microfracture of these lesions leads to formation of fibrocartilage which unfortunately only causes short to medium term improvement. Use of mesenchymal stem cells injections post micro fracture has shown promise in pre-clinical animal studies and also in initial human trials. We wish to explore the potential of autologous adipose derived mesenchymal stem cell injections post surgery to improve the quality of cartilage repair and prevent later onset development of osteoarthritis.

This study is evaluating Ponatinib in combination with 5-Azacitidine in patients with FLT3- ITD positive acute myeloid leukaemia. Who is it for? You may be eligible to join this study if you are aged over 18 years, have enrolled in the ALLG National Blood Cancer Registry, have FLT3-ITD AML (except Acute Promyelocytic Leukaemia) failing prior chemotherapy or are considered unfit for frontline intensive chemotherapy. You must have adequate liver function (unless due to Gilbert’s syndrome), adequate pancreatic function, and adequate kidney function. The full details of this study's inclusion and exclusion criteria can be found in the relevant sections within this record. Trial details: This study has two parts: Phase Ib involves finding the best dose of Azacitidine to combine with Ponatinib in terms of patient tolerability and safety. The first group of patients enrolled will be treated with 60 mg/m2 of Azacitidine on days 1 -5 & 8 – 9 and 30 mg of Ponatinib on days 5 – 25 of a 28 day cycle. If complete remission of AML is not achieved in the first cycle and no dose reductions for Ponatinib toxicity has occurred Ponatinib should be increased to 45 mg in subsequent cycles. The response to the treatment and adverse events will be assessed by the Trial Management Committee after 6 patients have been evaluated, subsequent patients will be recruited to receive either a higher (75 mg/m2 on days 1 – 5 & 8 – 9 on a 28 day cycle) or lower dose Azacitidine (50 mg/m2 on days 1 – 5 on a 28 day cycle) depending on the response. Both groups would also receive 30 mg of Ponatinib on days 5 – 25 of a 28 day cycle. If complete remission of AML is not achieved in the first cycle and no dose reductions for Ponatinib toxicity has occurred Ponatinib should be increased to 45 mg in subsequent cycles. The response to the treatment and adverse events of both groups will be assessed by the Trial Management Committee to determine a recommended phase II dose. All patients will then receive repeating 28 day cycles of daily oral Ponatinib and Azacitadine injections as long as the therapy continues to fight their leukaemia. Response to the treatment will be assessed at routine clinical visits with the usual clinical investigations that would monitor the status of your disease.

This study aims to examine the effect Citalopram (a common SSRI medication) has on the body's response to light exposure at night. It is hypothesised that as compared to placebo trials, administration of Citalopram will will result in an altered response to night time light exposure.

The aim of this project is to measure the effect of cervical spinal manipulation on people with non-specific neck pain. The research question relates to whether the magnitude of force of a manipulation influences the extent of effect. The project is a single-blinded randomised controlled clinical trial with three equal groups: one control and two intervention. Sixty-three participants, between the ages of 18 and 35 years with a history of non-specific neck pain originating from the lower cervical spine will be randomly allocated to one of three groups. Group 1 (standard care) will receive a single standardized 5-minute neck stretching exercise routine plus a single manually applied manipulation of the cervical spine. Group 2 (comparison intervention) will receive the same stretching program plus a single instrument applied manipulation to the cervical spine. Group 3 (control) will only receive the stretching program. Outcome measures include changes in neck pain, cervical range of motion, hand grip-strength and blood pressure.