Publications by authors named "MacKinnon A"

Objective: Insomnia and anxiety commonly co-occur, yet the mechanisms underlying this remain unclear. The current paper describes the impact of an Internet-based intervention for insomnia on anxiety, and explores the influence of two cognitive-behavioural constructs - dysfunctional beliefs about sleep and sleep-threat monitoring.

Methods: A large-scale, 9-week, two-arm randomised controlled trial ( N = 1149) of community-dwelling Australian adults with insomnia and elevated yet subclinical depression symptoms was conducted, comparing a cognitive behavioural therapy-based online intervention for insomnia (Sleep Healthy Using The Internet) with an attention-matched online control intervention (HealthWatch).

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Background: Depression and anxiety disorders are significant contributors to burden of disease in young people, highlighting the need to focus preventive efforts early in life. Despite substantial evidence for the role of parents in the prevention of adolescent depression and anxiety disorders, there remains a need for translation of this evidence into preventive parenting interventions. To address this gap, we developed a single-session, Web-based, tailored psychoeducation intervention that aims to improve parenting practices known to influence the development of adolescent depression and anxiety disorders.

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Background: Oxytocin is a neuropeptide associated with maternal behavior. However the mechanisms underlying this link remain unclear. In a previous study we observed an indirect effect of increased plasma oxytocin during late pregnancy on early postpartum maternal interactive behavior via theory of mind, as assessed by the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET).

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Background: Little is known about potential harmful effects as a consequence of self-guided internet-based cognitive behaviour therapy (iCBT), such as symptom deterioration rates. Thus, safety concerns remain and hamper the implementation of self-guided iCBT into clinical practice. We aimed to conduct an individual participant data (IPD) meta-analysis to determine the prevalence of clinically significant deterioration (symptom worsening) in adults with depressive symptoms who received self-guided iCBT compared with control conditions.

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Background And Purpose: Cerebral small-vessel disease is a major cause of cognitive impairment. Perivascular spaces (PvS) occur in small-vessel disease, but their relationship to cognitive impairment remains uncertain. One reason may be difficulty in distinguishing between lacunes and PvS.

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Background: teen Mental Health First Aid (tMHFA) is a classroom-based training programme for students aged 15-18 years to improve supportive behaviours towards peers, increase mental health literacy and reduce stigma. This research evaluated tMHFA by comparing it to a matched emergency Physical First Aid (PFA) training programme.

Methods: A cluster-randomised crossover trial matched four public schools in two pairs and then randomised each to first receive tMHFA or PFA for all Year 10 students.

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Objectives: No longitudinal epidemiological research has reported associations between physical frailty and performance in specific cognitive domains. Our aim was to investigate whether such associations existed in the absence of accompanying neurodegenerative disorders such as mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia.

Method: We addressed this issue in a population-based sample of 896 adults aged 70 years and older over 4 waves of data covering a 12-year period.

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Background: Within high income countries, mental health is now the leading cause of long term sickness absence in the workplace. Managers are in a position to make changes and decisions that have a positive effect on the wellbeing of staff, the recovery of employees with mental ill health, and potentially prevent future mental health problems. However, managers report addressing workplace mental health issues as challenging.

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Background And Purpose: The frequency, clinical correlates, and risk factors of cerebral microbleeds (CMB) in Cerebral Autosomal Dominant Arteriopathy with Subcortical Infarcts and Leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL) are still poorly known. We aimed at determining the location and number of CMB and their relationship with clinical manifestations, vascular risk factors, drugs, and other neuroimaging features in CADASIL patients.

Methods: We collected clinical data by means of a structured proforma and centrally evaluated CMB on magnetic resonance gradient echo sequences applying the Microbleed Anatomical Rating Scale in CADASIL patients seen in 2 referral centers in Italy and United Kingdom.

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Background: Depression and anxiety disorders in young people are a global health concern. Parents have an important role in reducing the risk of these disorders, but cost-effective, evidence-based interventions for parents that can be widely disseminated are lacking.

Objective: This study aimed to examine the postintervention effects of the Partners in Parenting (PiP) program on parenting risk and protective factors for adolescent depression and anxiety, and on adolescent depression and anxiety symptoms.

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Background: Myeloid cells are an abundant leukocyte in many types of tumors and contribute to immune evasion. Expression of the enzyme arginase 1 (Arg1) is a defining feature of immunosuppressive myeloid cells and leads to depletion of L-arginine, a nutrient required for T cell and natural killer (NK) cell proliferation. Here we use CB-1158, a potent and orally-bioavailable small-molecule inhibitor of arginase, to investigate the role of Arg1 in regulating anti-tumor immunity.

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Multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (MP-MRI), including diffusion-weighted imaging, is commonly used to diagnose prostate cancer. This radiology-pathology study correlates prostate cancer grade and morphology with common -value combinations for calculating apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC). Thirty-nine patients undergoing radical prostatectomy were recruited for MP-MRI prior to surgery.

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Background: Depression often emerges for the first time during adolescence. There is accumulating evidence that universal depression prevention programs may have the capacity to reduce the impact of depression when delivered in the school environment.

Objective: This trial investigated the effectiveness of SPARX-R, a gamified online cognitive behavior therapy intervention for the prevention of depression relative to an attention-matched control intervention delivered to students prior to facing a significant stressor-final secondary school exams.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the performance of a 30 J, nanosecond laser system at extreme conditions, focusing on shock drive capabilities.
  • It employs a velocity interferometer to measure maximum ablation pressures, revealing pressures over 160 GPa while ensuring a 1D shock profile.
  • The analysis indicates that slope pulses generate higher ablation pressures than plateau pulses and that results are comparable to those from the Omega Laser Facility under similar conditions.
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Mesenchymal cells expressing platelet-derived growth factor receptor beta (PDGFRβ) are known to be important in fibrosis of organs such as the liver and kidney. Here we show that PDGFRβ cells contribute to skeletal muscle and cardiac fibrosis via a mechanism that depends on αv integrins. Mice in which αv integrin is depleted in PDGFRβ cells are protected from cardiotoxin and laceration-induced skeletal muscle fibrosis and angiotensin II-induced cardiac fibrosis.

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Immunomodulatory agents represent one of the most promising strategies for enhancing tissue regeneration without the side effects of traditional drug-based therapies. Tissue repair depends largely on macrophages, making them ideal targets for proregenerative therapies. However, given the multiple roles of macrophages in tissue homeostasis, small molecule drugs must be only active in very specific subpopulations.

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Objective: To determine whether MRI markers, including diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), can predict cognitive decline and dementia in patients with cerebral small vessel disease (SVD).

Methods: In the prospective St George's Cognition and Neuroimaging in Stroke study, multimodal MRI was performed annually for 3 years and cognitive assessments annually for 5 years in a cohort of 99 patients with SVD, defined as symptomatic lacunar stroke and confluent white matter hyperintensities (WMH). Progression to dementia was determined in all patients.

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Background: Despite substantial evidence demonstrating numerous parental risk and protective factors for the development of adolescent depression and anxiety disorders, there is currently no single measure that assesses these parenting factors. To address this gap, we developed the as a criterion-referenced measure of parental concordance with a set of evidence-based parenting guidelines for the prevention of adolescent depression and anxiety disorders. In this paper, we used a sample of Australian parents of adolescents to: (1) validate the PRADAS as a criterion-referenced measure; (2) examine parental concordance with the guidelines in the sample; and (3) examine correlates of parental concordance with the guidelines.

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An active area in psychosis research is the identification of predictors of transition to a psychotic state among those who are assessed as being at high risk of psychosis. Many of the potential predictors are time dependent in the sense that they may change over time and are measured at a number of assessment time points. Examples are various psychopathological measures such as negative symptoms, positive symptoms, depression, and anxiety.

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Cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) is the primary cause of vascular cognitive impairment and is associated with decline in executive function (EF) and information processing speed (IPS). Imaging biomarkers are needed that can monitor and identify individuals at risk of severe cognitive decline. Recently there has been interest in combining several magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) markers of SVD into a unitary score to describe disease severity.

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Objectives: CD43 is normally expressed only on the surface of leukocytes, and is considered a sensitive and specific marker for hematologic malignancies. As such, it may have diagnostic utility in confirming hematolymphoid lineage in cases that are negative for CD45. Aberrant CD43 expression has been described in non-hematopoietic tumors, although literature data on this topic is variable and sometimes contradictory.

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Variations of normal development and benign incidental anomalies are frequently observed on diagnostic neuroimaging. It is important these are recognised for what they are, as misinterpretation may result in unnecessary further investigation, follow-up imaging and anxiety. In this article, we review benign intracranial anomalies commonly referred to our unit for specialist neuroradiology advice or multidisciplinary discussion, concerning cysts of the pineal gland and pituitary fossa, vascular anomalies, and perivascular spaces.

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