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We aim to investigate whether two different kinds of values clarification tasks are able to improve measures of wellbeing in healthy adults. The idea for this project came from research showing that interventions which ask people to identify/connect with and work toward their values tend to result in people feeling immediately happier, have improved longer-term physical health (e.g., several months down the track), and being more engaged in the activities that are important to them. In particular, we sought to weigh the relative benefits of (1) a straight-forward values identification task in which participants are asked to map specific achievable activities onto chosen their values, with (2) a creative writing task requiring people to write about their future when imagining that everything has turned out as well as they could have wished (called the best possible selves [BPS] procedure). To ensure we can draw sound conclusions from our research, we will also be comparing these two interventions with a no-intervention control condition, where people will be asked simply to write about the ordinary details of a day in the past week. It is hypothesised that both values clarification exercises will result in greater wellbeing scores than the control condition, where wellbeing will be assessed via a number of self-report questionnaires which participants will be asked to complete prior to and following the experiment. Furthermore, although values work is at present part of many larger therapy packages that have been shown to be effective in improving peoples’ mood and reducing low mood, different values clarification procedures have not yet been compared with one another. As such, to the extent that one intervention is more effective than the other, this will provide novel information on the relative benefit of different values clarification procedures in terms of boosting wellbeing.

While schools are increasingly expected to support the mental health of students, classroom teachers have reported feeling that they lack the skills and confidence in knowing how to best recognise and respond to students’ mental health issues. The role of Year Advisor has additional requirements to support students’ mental health, namely by existing as the main point of contact for parents, students, other school staff, and health professionals when managing student mental illness. Our research team also conducted a systematic review which found that few teacher training programs in adolescent mental had been formally evaluated for effectiveness. In addition, there was no evidence that existing training programs increased the rate of teachers’ helping behaviour towards students. Based on these findings, our research team was awarded the funds to develop an evidence-based mental health training program specifically for secondary school Year Advisors. An advisory group of Year Advisors was established to help develop the program including content selection and delivery mode. A review of the features of existing programs indicated that teacher training programs tend to use a didactic workshop style of delivery. While this format achieved short-term improvements in teachers’ knowledge and attitudes towards student mental health, it is unclear whether these improvements were long-term. Research in professional development and adult learning suggest that training programs which feature elements of online, collaborative, and skill-based learning are preferred by users and can lead to behaviour change. Collaboration with the Year Advisor advisory group indicated that ideally, training programs should focus on practical skills and collaborative learning with peers. Taken together, this indicated a need for an evidence-based, innovative skills-based training program aimed at improving Year Advisors’ knowledge, attitudes, confidence, and helping behaviours in responding to students’ mental health needs. We are now ready to test the training program for acceptability, feasibility, and preliminary effectiveness.

Aging slows down our mental abilities. However, some older adults may experience greater decline in their mental abilities than their peers. The study investigates how much age affects older people’s ability to pay attention and remember things. Attention is a core mental ability needed for other mental work and daily functioning. Most studies to date have shown problems with memory in older adults. Few studies have looked at whether a decline in attention affects other mental abilities in older adults. Attention training is not a common therapy for older adults with difficulties in attention and memory. There is also limited information on the effect of such training on older adults. Understanding the usefulness of attention training in older people may help in deciding whether it should be used as a regular form of therapy. 67 older adults aged between 60 and 80 years took part in this study. 63 of the 67 participants were healthy older adults residing in the community and the rest 4 had a diagnosis of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) given by the Memory Clinic, Toowoomba Hospital and/or referred by geriatricians in their private practice. The healthy older adults group were further assigned to two groups. 34 participants received the Attention Training program and 29 participants received the Relaxation training program. Each group of participants received the weekly group training in smaller groups of maximum 8 participants at a time. Interested control group participants were offered the Attention Training program (same training for 10 weeks - 2 hours weekly) after they received their Relaxation Training and have had a minimum wash out period of 2 weeks in between the 2 trainings. The 4 participants with MCI received only the Attention Training program (10 sessions for 2 hours weekly). Pre-post evaluation of data will be completed.

The health benefits of exercise in preventing, delaying and treating obesity and metabolic disorders is widely appreciated. In response to endurance exercise, a series of biological networks (i.e. protein, protein post-translational modification, metabolite and gene networks) are engaged in skeletal muscle and the bloodstream to manage the metabolic and mechanical demands of exercise. However, the breadth of biological networks engaged by a single bout of exercise and how these networks differ between modes of exercise (e.g. high intensity interval training [HIIT] versus continuous endurance exercise) is not known. In this randomised crossover trial, healthy sedentary males aged 18-30 will complete a single bout of HIIT and continuous endurance exercise, with at least 10 days between the two trials. Muscle biopsy and blood samples will be collected before, during and after exercise. The primary purpose of this study is to determine the effects of a single bout of HIIT versus continuous endurance exercise on skeletal muscle protein content and protein post-translational modifications. The secondary purposes of this study are to determine the effects of a single bout of HIIT versus continuous endurance exercise on skeletal muscle gene expression, as well as plasma hormone and metabolite responses. We hypothesise that a single bout of HIIT or continuous endurance exercise will result in comparable changes in exercise and post-exercise skeletal muscle protein content. In addition, we hypothesise that HIIT will result in greater increases in exercise and post-exercise whole skeletal muscle protein post-translational modifications (i.e. phosphorylation), gene expression (i.e. transcription), and hormone and metabolite responses compared to continuous endurance exercise.

This study examines the extent to which, how, and for whom aspects of the urban environment influence brain health and cognitive health in mid-aged and older community dwellers living in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Hong Kong (China) and Barcelona (Spain). Specifically, we will examine 1) the associations of physical and social attributes of the participants’ neighborhood environment and other activity locations with changes in cognitive function and brain health, 2) the extent to which these changes are explained by lifestyle behaviors (physical activity, sedentary time, quality of sleep, social and cognitive activities) and 3) and the extent to which the observed associations depend on personality traits and genetic predisposition to dementia.

Stargazer Pharmaceuticals. is developing STG-001 a potential oral therapy for patients with Stargardt's disease. This study will be conducted in up to 84 healthy volunteers who meet all of the inclusion criteria and none of the exclusion criteria. The study is to assess the safety and tolerability of STG-001 in normal healthy volunteers. This includes vital signs, safety labs, ECGs, and ocular and non-ocular examinations. The drug will be given in single ascending then multiple ascending doses. The study will also evaluate the PK and PD of the drug after dose administration. Participants will be entered into standard study cohorts

Based on the findings of the current literature and our research team, the aim of this project is to perform a comparative analysis of physiological and visual responses in healthy humans after the oral administration of L-THE in a capsule form vs. L-THE embedded within the food matrix (0.2g/100g serve mango sorbet). This includes testing the effects of L-THE on saccadic eye movements, visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, heart rate (HR) variability, blood pressure, and the stress response via salivary biomarkers. HR variability and blood pressure has previously been shown in clinical populations, athletes and other healthy people to be a very good predictor of health status, inflammation and fatigue. As well as this, testing saccadic eye movements and salivary cortisol has shown to be a good indicator of alertness and stress levels in the human body.

Youth suicide is a major public health problem in Australia and worldwide. This study aims to build the evidence base for an effective public education campaign for young people. In particular we are testing to see if a 30 second ad can lead to reaching out and helping a peer at risk of suicide.120 young people will be recruited from the general population randomly allocated to view one of two PSA. The intervention PSA is about helping someone at risk of suicide and the control PSA is about the impact of sugary drinks. Participants will answer questions pre-viewing, post-viewing and four weeks later to permit an examination of several positive and negative outcomes.

The purpose of this trial is to investigate the dose-related effects of small intestinal administration of the bitter agonist, Amarasate, on the motor and hormone functions of the upper gastrointestinal tract, appetite, and energy intake. We have found previously that specific dietary nutrients, when given into the small intestine in small amounts (and so not contributing significantly to overall energy intake) have the unique ability to substantially stimulate gastrointestinal functions leading to marked energy intake suppression. There has been a recent interest in the effects of bitter compounds, some of which also occur in the diet, including thio-urea compounds in certain vegetables or fruit, or quinine in tonic water, with reported effects on gut functions and energy intake suppression. This study aims to characterise the dose-related effects of amarasate (a natural extract from a hop cultivar), when delivered to the small intestine, in an effort to identify an optimal dose for beneficial effect on the outcomes mentioned herein.

This study aims to evaluate the efficacy, safety and sustainability of an individualised approach to postoperative thromboembolism prevention in cancer surgery patients. Who is it for? You may be eligible to join this study if you are aged 16 years or above, and are scheduled to undergo cancer surgery at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. Study details Participants in this study are categorised into low, intermediate and high risk profiles for thromboembolism, according to surgical procedure and baseline medical risk. Expert-endorsed risk-specific thromboprophylaxis strategies are then applied. These strategies include mechanical or drug intervention that were administered at a specific time point, duration and appropriate dose. For example patients undergoing major surgery (e.g. bowel resection) were classified as high risk profile and received mechanical compression devices and stockings, as well as blood thinning medications for at least 7 days after surgery. Patients undergoing lower risk endoscopic procedures were only advised to have early mobilisation after their procedure. Postoperative thromboembolism and bleeding rates will be compared before and after implementation of this protocol. If effective, it is hoped that this flexible approach can be translated to surgical populations at other institutions.