MetaHD: A multivariate meta-analysis model for metabolomics data.

Motivation: Meta-analysis methods widely-used for combining metabolomics data do not account for correlation between metabolites or missing values. Within- and between-study variability are also often overlooked. These can give results with inferior statistical properties, leading to misidentification of biomarkers.

Walking self-confidence and lower levels of anxiety are associated with meeting recommended levels of physical activity after hip fracture: a cross-sectional study.

Purpose: To explore whether psychological factors are associated with ability to meet recommended physical activity thresholds after hip fracture.

Materials And Methods: Cross-sectional observational study of 216 community-dwelling adults aged ≥65 years after hip fracture (mean age 79 SD 7 years, 70% female). Multiple ordinal regression analysis determined factors associated with meeting physical activity thresholds related to positive health outcomes: 4,400 and 7,100 daily steps.

Health Professionals can Sustain Proficiency in Motivational Interviewing With a Moderate Amount of Training: An Intervention Fidelity Study.

Introduction: Motivational interviewing (MI) proficiency may erode quickly, limiting its effectiveness. We examined whether health professionals completing a 2-day workshop, with 3 to 5 hours of personalized coaching, and twice-yearly group reflections sustained proficiency for the duration of a hip fracture rehabilitation trial and whether intervention was implemented as intended.

Methods: A fidelity study was completed as part of a process evaluation of the trial that tested whether physical activity increased among hip fracture patients randomly allocated to receive MI (experimental) compared with dietary advice (control) over ten 30-minute sessions.

Fostering positive attitudes towards interacting with young people with disability among health students: a stepped-wedge trial.

Purpose: To investigate if a 12-week community-based exercise program () fostered positive attitudes towards disability among university student mentors.

Methods: A stepped-wedge cluster randomised trial was completed with 4 clusters. Students were eligible to be a mentor if enrolled in an entry-level health degree (any discipline, any year) at one of three universities.

Progressive resistance training in young people with Prader-Willi syndrome: protocol for a randomised trial (PRESTO).

Introduction: Preliminary evidence suggests that progressive resistance training may be beneficial for people with Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS), a rare genetic condition that results in muscle weakness and low muscle tone.To establish whether community-based progressive resistance training is effective in improving the muscle strength of people with PWS; to determine cost-effectiveness; and, to complete a process evaluation assessing intervention fidelity, exploring mechanisms of impact, understanding participant experiences and identifying contextual factors affecting implementation.

Methods And Analysis: A multisite, randomised controlled trial will be completed.

Extra virgin olive oil improves HDL lipid fraction but not HDL-mediated cholesterol efflux capacity: a double-blind, randomised, controlled, cross-over study (OLIVAUS).

Olive oil (OO) polyphenols have been shown to improve HDL anti-atherogenic function, thus demonstrating beneficial effects against cardiovascular risk factors. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of extra virgin high polyphenol olive oil (HPOO) . low polyphenol olive oil (LPOO) on the capacity of HDL to promote cholesterol efflux in healthy adults.

Impact of starting BMI and degree of weight loss on changes in appetite-regulating hormones during diet-induced weight loss.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine whether the hormone changes following weight loss are proportional to the degree of weight loss and to starting BMI.

Methods: A very low-energy diet was used to achieve 15% weight loss. Fasting and postprandial gut hormones and leptin were measured during a meal test at baseline and at 5% (1%), 10% (2%), and 15% (2.

The diamond ratio: A visual indicator of the extent of heterogeneity in meta-analysis.

The result of a meta-analysis is conventionally pictured in the forest plot as a diamond, whose length is the 95% confidence interval (CI) for the summary measure of interest. The Diamond Ratio (DR) is the ratio of the length of the diamond given by a random effects meta-analysis to that given by a fixed effect meta-analysis. The DR is a simple visual indicator of the amount of change caused by moving from a fixed-effect to a random-effects meta-analysis.

Changing Student Health Professionals' Attitudes toward Disability: A Longitudinal Study.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether positive changes in self-reported attitudes toward disability were retained after students had participated in a 12-week voluntary community-based exercise programme for young people with disability. Sixty-eight physiotherapy and exercise physiology students (45 women, 23 men; mean age 21 y) volunteered. Each student was matched with a young person with disability, and the pair exercised together twice a week for 12 weeks at their local gymnasium.

Impact of preconception weight loss on fasting glucose and pregnancy outcomes in women with obesity: A randomized trial.

Objective: This study examined the effectiveness of a nonsurgical, preconception weight loss intervention on pregnancy outcomes in women with obesity.

Methods: This was a two-arm, parallel-group randomized controlled trial. A total of 164 women with BMI 30 to 55 kg/m who were aged 18 to 38 years and planning pregnancy were randomized to a 12-week standard dietary intervention (SDI; n = 79) or a modified very low-energy diet (VLED; n = 85).

Prediction of clinical anxious and depressive problems in mid childhood amongst temperamentally inhibited preschool children: a population study.

Shy/inhibited young children are at risk for internalising difficulties; however, for many, this temperamental style does not result in mental health problems. This study followed a population-based sample of temperamentally inhibited preschool children into mid childhood to explore the aetiology of clinical-level anxious and depressive problems. Amongst inhibited preschool children, we aimed to predict each of clinical child anxiety and depressive problems in mid childhood from a broad range of potential risks (demographics, traumatic events and broader recent stressors, parents' well-being, and parenting practices).

On ratio measures of heterogeneity for meta-analyses.

As a measure of heterogeneity in meta-analysis, the coefficient of variation (CV) has been recently considered, providing researchers with a complement to the very popular measure. While measures the proportion of total variance that is due to variance of the random effects, the CV is the ratio of the standard deviation of the random effects to the effect of interest. Consequently, the CV provides a different measure of the extent of heterogeneity in a meta-analysis relative to the effect being measured.

Behaviour change interventions to increase physical activity in hospitalised patients: a systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression.

Background: Low physical activity levels are a major problem for people in hospital and are associated with adverse outcomes.

Objective: This systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression aimed to determine the effect of behaviour change interventions on physical activity levels in hospitalised patients.

Methods: Randomised controlled trials of behaviour change interventions to increase physical activity in hospitalised patients were selected from a database search, supplemented by reference list checking and citation tracking.

Follow-up of the Cool Little Kids translational trial into middle childhood.

Background: Public health advocates have highlighted internalising problems as a leading cause of global burden of disease. Internalising problems (anxiety/depression) affect up to 20% of school-age children and can impact peer relations, school engagement and later employment and mortality. This translational trial aimed to determine whether a selective/indicated parenting group programme to prevent internalising distress in shy/inhibited preschool children had sustained effects in middle childhood.

Motivational interviewing with community-dwelling older adults after hip fracture (MIHip): protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

Introduction: Community-dwelling people recovering from hip fracture have the physical capacity to walk in their community but lack the confidence to do so. The primary aim of this trial is to determine whether motivational interviewing increases time spent walking at 12 months in community-dwelling people after hip fracture compared with an attention placebo control group. Secondary aims are to evaluate cost effectiveness, patient and health service outcomes and to complete a process evaluation.

Feasibility of scaling-up a community-based exercise program for young people with disability.

Purpose: To evaluate feasibility of scaling up a 12-week community-based exercise program () in which young people with disability exercise with a student mentor.

Method: Within a stepped wedge cluster randomised trial, seven domains of feasibility were assessed: demand, implementation, acceptability, practicality, adaptation, integration, and expansion.

Results: Of the 163 participants with disability (61 females; 20.

Positive Parenting Behaviors: Impact on the Early Vocabulary of Infants/Toddlers With Cochlear Implants.

Purpose To extend our knowledge about factors influencing early vocabulary development for infants with cochlear implants (CIs), we investigated the impact of positive parenting behaviors (PPBs) from the Indicator of Parent Child Interaction, used in parent-child interactions during everyday activities. Method Implantation age for the sample recruited from CI clinics in Australia ranged from 6 to 10 months for 22 children and from 11 to 21 months for 11 children. Three observation sessions at three monthly intervals were coded for use of PPBs.

Cool Little Kids translational trial to prevent internalising: two-year outcomes and prediction of parent engagement.

Background: The aim was to determine outcomes in the first year of school of a population-delivered parenting program to prevent internalising problems in temperamentally inhibited preschool children and predictors of engagement in parenting groups.

Method: Design: Randomised controlled trial.

Setting: 307 preschool services across eight socio-economically diverse government areas in Melbourne, Australia.

Empirical Shaft Resistance of Driven Piles Penetrating Weak Rock.

In this paper, an empirical relationship between the Unconfined Compressive Strength (UCS) of intact rock and the unit shaft resistance of piles penetrating rock is investigated. A growing number of civil engineering projects are utilizing steel piles driven into rock where a significant portion of the pile capacity is derived from the shaft resistance. Despite the growing number of projects utilizing the technology, little to no guidance is offered in the literature as to how the shaft resistance is to be calculated for such piles.

Association of early life and acute pollen exposure with lung function and exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO). A prospective study up to adolescence in the GINIplus and LISA cohort.

Background: Pollen exposure has both acute and chronic detrimental effects on allergic asthma, but little is known about its wider effects on respiratory health. This is increasingly important knowledge as ambient pollen levels are changing with the changing global climate.

Objective: To assess associations of pollen exposure with lung function and fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) at age 15 in two prospective German birth cohorts, GINIplus and LISA.

Sustainable waiting time reductions after introducing the STAT model for access and triage: 12-month follow up of a stepped wedge cluster randomised controlled trial.

Background: Timely access is a challenge for providers of outpatient and community-based health services, as seen by the often lengthy waiting lists to manage demand. The Specific Timely Appointments for Triage (STAT) model, an alternative approach for managing access and triage, reduced waiting time by 34% in a stepped wedge cluster randomised controlled trial involving 8 services and more than 3000 participants. Follow up periods ranged from 3 to 10 months across the participating services in accordance with the stepped wedge design.

Time to pregnancy after a prepregnancy very-low-energy diet program in women with obesity: substudy of a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To examine the impact of a prepregnancy very-low-energy diet (VLED) program on time to pregnancy in women with obesity.

Design: Substudy of a two-arm parallel group randomized controlled trial.

Setting: Multiple tertiary care centers.

Association between physical activity and short-term physical function changes after hip fracture: An observational study.

Background And Purpose: To investigate whether physical activity levels are predictive of short-term changes in physical function for people discharged to independent living in the community following withdrawal of rehabilitation services after hip fracture; and to describe short-term recovery in physical activity, physical function, walking confidence, health-related quality of life and walking participation.

Methods: This prospective cohort study comprised 57 older adults (39 females, mean age 80.4, SD 8.

Robust analogs to the coefficient of variation.

The coefficient of variation is commonly used to measure relative dispersion. However, since it is based on the sample mean and standard deviation, outliers can adversely affect it. Additionally, for skewed distributions the mean and standard deviation may be difficult to interpret and, consequently, that may also be the case for the .

The Effect of High Polyphenol Extra Virgin Olive Oil on Blood Pressure and Arterial Stiffness in Healthy Australian Adults: A Randomized, Controlled, Cross-Over Study.

Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) is suggested to be cardioprotective, partly due to its high phenolic content. We investigated the effect of extra virgin high polyphenol olive oil (HPOO) versus low polyphenol olive oil (LPOO) on blood pressure (BP) and arterial stiffness in healthy Australian adults. In a double-blind, randomized, controlled cross-over trial, 50 participants (age 38.