Digital Commons Network^™

Therapeutic Activity Of Lipoxin A4 In Tio2-Induced Arthritis In Mice: Nf-Κb And Nrf2 In Synovial Fluid Leukocytes And Neuronal Trpv1 Mechanisms, Telma Saraiva-Santos, Tiago H Zaninelli, Felipe A Pinho-Ribeiro, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Lipoxin A4 (LXA

METHODS: Mice were stimulated with TiO

RESULTS: LXA

CONCLUSION: LXA

T-Cell Redirecting Therapies For B-Cell Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma: Recent Progress And Future Directions, David A Russler-Germain, Armin Ghobadi

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Several key advances in the treatment of B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (B-NHL) over the past two decades have strategically exploited B-cell lineage markers suitable for targeting by immunotherapies. First, the addition of the anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody (mAb) rituximab to a range of standard therapies conferred remarkable outcomes improvements in diverse settings, perhaps most prominently an overall survival advantage in newly diagnosed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Subsequently, multiple chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies targeting CD19 have revolutionized the treatment of relapsed/refractory (rel/ref) DLBCL and are active in other B-NHL subtypes as well. Most recently, the longstanding aspiration to exploit patients' …

Clinical Characteristics And Outcomes Of Infection With Human T-Lymphotropic Virus In A Non-Endemic Area: A Single Institution Study, Margery Gang, Feng Gao, Sneha Poondru, Theodore Thomas, Lee Ratner

2020-Current year OA Pubs

INTRODUCTION: Understanding of human T-lymphotropic virus (HTLV) remains largely based on epidemiologic and clinical data from endemic areas. Globalization has resulted in migration of persons living with HTLV (PLHTLV) from endemic to non-endemic areas, and a rise of HTLV infection in the United States. Yet, due to the historical rarity of this disease, affected patients are often under- and mis-diagnosed. Thus, we sought to characterize the epidemiology, clinical features, comorbidities, and survival of HTLV-1- or HTLV-2-positive individuals identified in a non-endemic area.

METHODS: Our study was a single institution, retrospective case-control analysis of HTLV-1 or HTLV-2 patients between 1998 and …

Financial Burden Of Men With Localized Prostate Cancer: A Process Paper, Ashley J Housten, Hannah E Rice, Su-Hsin Chang, Allison J L'Hotta, Eric H Kim, Bettina F Drake, Robin Wright-Jones, Mary C Politi

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Many individuals undergoing cancer treatment experience substantial financial hardship, often referred to as financial toxicity (FT). Those undergoing prostate cancer treatment may experience FT and its impact can exacerbate disparate health outcomes. Localized prostate cancer treatment options include: radiation, surgery, and/or active surveillance. Quality of life tradeoffs and costs differ between treatment options. In this project, our aim was to quantify direct healthcare costs to support patients and clinicians as they discuss prostate cancer treatment options. We provide the transparent steps to estimate healthcare costs associated with treatment for localized prostate cancer among the privately insured population using a …

The Evaluation Of The Delayed Swollen Breast In Patients With A History Of Breast Implants, Grace C Keane, Alexandra M Keane, Ryan Diederich, Kaitlyn Kennard, Eric J Duncavage, Terence M Myckatyn

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Breast implants, whether placed for reconstructive or cosmetic purposes, are rarely lifetime devices. Rupture, resulting from compromised implant shell integrity, and capsular contracture caused by constriction of the specialized scar tissue that normally forms around breast implants, have long been recognized, and remain the leading causes of implant failure. It is apparent, however, that women with breast implants may also experience delayed breast swelling due to a range of etiologic factors. While a majority of delayed seromas associated with breast implants have a benign etiology, this presentation cannot be ignored without an adequate workup as malignancies such as breast implant …

Functional Trajectories During Innate Spinal Cord Repair, Nicholas O Jensen, Brooke Burris, Lili Zhou, Hunter Yamada, Catrina Reyes, Zachary Pincus, Mayssa H Mokalled

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Adult zebrafish are capable of anatomical and functional recovery following severe spinal cord injury. Axon growth, glial bridging and adult neurogenesis are hallmarks of cellular regeneration during spinal cord repair. However, the correlation between these cellular regenerative processes and functional recovery remains to be elucidated. Whereas the majority of established functional regeneration metrics measure swim capacity, we hypothesize that gait quality is more directly related to neurological health. Here, we performed a longitudinal swim tracking study for 60 individual zebrafish spanning 8 weeks of spinal cord regeneration. Multiple swim parameters as well as axonal and glial bridging were integrated. We …

Cell Wall Composition In Cryptococcus Neoformans Is Media Dependent And Alters Host Response, Inducing Protective Immunity, Rajendra Upadhya, Woei C Lam, Camaron R Hole, Joseph G Vasselli, Jennifer K Lodge

2020-Current year OA Pubs

INTRODUCTION:

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine how different media influenced the amount of chitin and chitosan in the cell wall, which in turn impacted the cell wall architecture and host response.

METHODS: Yeast extract, peptone, and dextrose (YPD) and yeast nitrogen base (YNB) are two commonly used media for growing Cryptococcus before use in in vitro or in vivo experiments. As a result,

RESULTS: We observed that the growth of wild-type

CONCLUSION: These findings emphasize the importance of culture media and pH during growth in shaping the content and organization of the

Changes In Patient-Reported Pain Interference After Surgical Treatment Of Painful Lower Extremity Neuromas, Adam Liebendorfer, Esther Ochoa, Christopher J Dy

2020-Current year OA Pubs

PURPOSE: Painful neuromas commonly cause neuropathic pain, in up to 1 in 20 cases of traumatic or iatrogenic nerve injury. Despite the multiple surgical treatment types that reduce pain, no type has been universally accepted.

METHODS: We performed a retrospective cohort study by administering follow-up surveys to all surgical patients treated in our department for lower-extremity neuroma from September 1, 2015, to October 22, 2021, that could be contacted, excluding those with Morton neuroma. In addition to the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Pain Interference (PI) questionnaire, survey questions covered the time to pain reduction, use of physical or …

A Universal Neocortical Mask For Centiloid Quantification, Pierrick Bourgeat, Vincent Doré, Christopher C Rowe, Tammie Benzinger, Duygu Tosun, Manu S Goyal, Pamela Lamontagne, Liang Jin, Michael W Weiner, Colin L Masters, Jurgen Fripp, Victor L Villemagne, Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative; Oasis3, Aibl Research Group

2020-Current year OA Pubs

INTRODUCTION: The Centiloid (CL) project was developed to harmonize the quantification of amyloid beta (Aβ) positron emission tomography (PET) scans to a unified scale. The CL neocortical mask was defined using

METHODS: Using data from the Alzheimer's Dementia Onset and Progression in International Cohorts (ADOPIC) study (Australian Imaging Biomarkers and Lifestyle + Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative + Open Access Series of Imaging Studies), age-matched pairs of mild Alzheimer's disease (AD) and healthy controls (HC) were selected:

RESULTS: In the GAAIN dataset, the universal mask led to a small reduction in the variance of the YC, and a small increase in …

Toward A Computational Theory Of Manifold Untangling: From Global Embedding To Local Flattening, Xin Li, Shuo Wang

2020-Current year OA Pubs

It has been hypothesized that the ventral stream processing for object recognition is based on a mechanism called cortically local subspace untangling. A mathematical abstraction of object recognition by the visual cortex is how to untangle the manifolds associated with different object categories. Such a manifold untangling problem is closely related to the celebrated kernel trick in metric space. In this paper, we conjecture that there is a more general solution to manifold untangling in the topological space without artificially defining any distance metric. Geometrically, we can either

How Class Matters: Examining Working-Class Children’S Home Technology Environments From A Developmental Perspective, Vikki Katz, Brianna Hightower

Communication Faculty Articles and Research

Social class is seldom engaged by scholars as a lens for investigating variations in children’s digital technology engagement. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 33 working-class children in a postindustrial community, we examine how social class shapes these children’s digital technology experiences. Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory of child development guides our examination of children’s views on digital technology integration into their interactions with proximal influences (i.e., parents, siblings, and friends) and distal influences that indirectly shape their technology environments by affecting their parents’ circumstances. We find that working-class children’s experiences share key commonalities with both their lower- and higher-income peers, consistent with …

Poo Matters! A Scoping Review Of Impact Of Constipation On Epilepsy, Alexandra Gabrielsson, Samuel Tromans, Lance Watkins, Lisa Burrows, Richard Laugharne, Rohit Shankar

Peninsula Medical School

BACKGROUND: Epilepsy is a common neurological disorder which frequently presents with co-morbid physical health conditions, including constipation. However, the nature of the relationship between the two conditions has not been well defined. AIM: To quantify constipation's relationship with epilepsy and anti-seizure medication (ASM). METHOD: A scoping review registered on PROSPERO (CRD42022320079) with suitable search terms was conducted and reported in accordance with PRISMA guidance. CINAHL, Embase, PsycInfo and MEDLINE electronic databases were searched by an information specialist. The Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) critical appraisal tools alongside the Oxford Centre for Evidence Based Medicine (OCEBM) levels of evidence were used to …

Topical Review: Optometry In Nepal—Clinical Practice, Research Advances, And Challenges, Safal Khanal, Nabin Paudel, Rabindra Adhikary, Mahesh Raj Joshi

School of Health Professions

SIGNIFICANCE This article reviews educational standard, clinical practice, research advances, and challenges associated with optometry in Nepal and provides critical considerations for contemporary and new optometry programs in countries with similar socioeconomic status and health care systems. Optometry education started in Nepal in 1998 with the primary objective of addressing the unmet needs of eye health and vision care in the country. Over the last two decades, this program has made significant contributions to facilitating and improving the delivery of quality eye care and establishing the nation's eye health system as an exemplary model in South Asia. Despite the positive …

Dead-Zone Compensation Via Passivity-Based Control For A Class Of Mechanical Systems, Carmen Chan-Zheng, Pablo Borja, Jacquelien M.A. Scherpen

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

This manuscript introduces a passivity-based control methodology for fully-actuated mechanical systems with symmetric or asymmetric dead-zones. To this end, we find a smooth approximation of the inverse of the function that describes such a nonlinearity. Then, we propose an energy and damping injection approach — based on the PI-PBC technique — that compensates for the dead-zone. Moreover, we provide an analysis of the performance of the proposed controller near the equilibrium. We conclude this paper by experimentally validating the results on a two degrees-of-freedom planar manipulator.

Instability Of Waves In Deep Water — A Discrete Hamiltonian Approach, David Andrade, Raphael Stuhlmeier

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

The stability of waves in deep water has classically been approached via linear stability analysis, with various model equations, such as the nonlinear Schrödinger equation, serving as points of departure. Some of the most well-studied instabilities involve the interaction of four waves – so called Type I instabilities – or five waves – Type II instabilities. A unified description of four and five wave interaction can be provided by the reduced Hamiltonian derived by Krasitskii (1994). Exploiting additional conservation laws, the discretised Hamiltonian may be used to shed light on these four and five wave instabilities without restrictions on spectral …

Air Quality And Mental Health: Evidence, Challenges And Future Directions, Kamaldeep Bhui, Joanne B. Newbury, Rachel M. Latham, Marcella Ucci, Zaheer A. Nasir, Briony Turner, Catherine O'Leary, Helen L. Fisher, Emma Marczylo, Philippa Douglas, Stephen Stansfeld, Simon K. Jackson, Sean Tyrrel, Andrey Rzhetsky, Rob Kinnersley, Prashant Kumar, Caroline Duchaine, Frederic Coulon

School of Biomedical Sciences

Background Poor air quality is associated with poor health. Little attention is given to the complex array of environmental exposures and air pollutants that affect mental health during the life course. Aims We gather interdisciplinary expertise and knowledge across the air pollution and mental health fields. We seek to propose future research priorities and how to address them. Method Through a rapid narrative review, we summarise the key scientific findings, knowledge gaps and methodological challenges. Results There is emerging evidence of associations between poor air quality, both indoors and outdoors, and poor mental health more generally, as well as specific …

Transition Theory And The Emotional Journey To Medical Educator Identity: A Qualitative Interview Study, J Browne, T Collett

Peninsula Medical School

Background. Medical academia is in crisis, with fewer people entering and growing concern at numbers leaving. While faculty development is often seen as part of the solution, there are significant issues with faculty not engaging with and resisting development opportunities. Lack of motivation may be linked to what might be called a ‘weak’ educator identity. We studied medical educators' experiences of career development to gain further insights into: how professional identity may develop; individuals' accompanying emotional responses to perceived identity change; and consideration of the accompanying temporal dimensions. Drawing on new materialist sociology, we explore medical educator identity formation in …

Routinely Used Interventions To Improve Attachment In Infants And Young Children: A National Survey And Two Systematic Reviews, Barry Wright, Pasco Fearon, Megan Garside, Eleni Tsappis, Elaine Amoah, Danya Glaser, Victoria Allgar, Helen Minnis, Matthew Woolgar, Rachel Churchill, Dean Mcmillan, Peter Fonagy, Alison O’Sullivan, Michelle Mchale

Peninsula Medical School

Background.Attachment refers to an infant’s innate tendency to seek comfort from their caregiver. Research shows that attachment is important in promoting healthy social and emotional development. Many parenting interventions have been developed to improve attachment outcomes for children. However, numerous interventions used in routine practice have a limited evidence base, meaning that we cannot be sure if they are helpful or harmful.Objectives.This research aimed to conduct a large-scale survey to identify what interventions are being used in UK services to improve child attachment; conduct a systematic review to evaluate the evidence for parenting attachment interventions; and develop recommendations for future …

“I Am Not A Good Woman?” Exploring The Views And Challenges Of Nurses When Discussing Hpv Testing And Associated Cervical Screening With Women In Iraq, Suhailah M. Ali, Rebecca Lawes, Ayla Khedher Ghalib

School of Nursing and Midwifery

Introduction: Cervical cancer is mostly caused by high-risk Human papillomavirus HPV, with an estimation prevalence of HPV of 99.7% worldwide. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved an HPV test for primary cervical screening in 2014. An HPV-DNA test, which provides higher protection against invasive cervical carcinomas, is replacing the long-standing Pap smear as the primary method of cervical cancer screening. Objective: To explore nurses’ experience and knowledge of HPV DNA testing and how screening impacts on women's health through increasing awareness and proposing actions for health education strategies. Method: A qualitative exploratory study was conducted on a purposeful …

Survey Of Parents Of Children With Intellectual Disabilities And/Or Autism Who Experience Chronic Constipation, James Rooney, Rebecca Hodge, Jade Smith, Kelly Vanstone, Richard Laugharne, Rohit Shankar

Peninsula Medical School

Background: Constipation is common in children with intellectual disabilities and/or autism, but poorly researched. This study looks to understand parental knowledge, attitudes and management practices towards constipation in children with intellectual disabilities and/or autism. Methods: A cross-sectional online survey developed with patient facing organisations was circulated to parents of children with intellectual disabilities and/or autism using an exponential and non-discriminatory snowballing method for recruitment. A smaller sample were purposively sampled for their in-depth experiences. Results: Of 68 responses, people were open to discussing constipation and knowledgeable about risk factors. In the qualitative interviews, of 15 parents, they wanted to be …

Review And Update Of The Health Of The Nation Outcome Scales For People With Learning Disabilities (Honos-Ld), Jon Painter, Nicola Adams, Barry Ingham, Michael James, Madiha Majid, Ashok Roy, Rohit Shankar, Mark Smith

Peninsula Medical School

Background: The Health of the Nation Outcomes Scales for people with Learning Disabilities (HoNOS-LD) is an 18-item measure which provides a structured and standardized approach to rating various clinical and psychosocial outcomes and has been in use nationally since 2002. Aims: To revise and improve the HoNOS-LD’s utility in contemporary intellectual disability (ID) services whilst retaining its original objectives and five-point severity ratings. Method: ID clinicians were invited to complete an online survey, rating each item on the existing measure for being fit for purpose, identifying issues and suggesting improvements based on their experience of using the HoNOS-LD in practice. …

Covid-19 Vaccine Effectiveness Against Hospitalisation And Death Of People In Clinical Risk Groups During The Delta Variant Period: English Primary Care Network Cohort Study, Heather J. Whitaker, Ruby S.M. Tsang, Rachel Byford, Carole Aspden, Elizabeth Button, Praveen Sebastian Pillai, Gavin Jamie, Debasish Kar, John Williams, Mary Sinnathamby, Gemma Marsden, William H. Elson, Meredith Leston, Sneha Anand, Cecilia Okusi, Xuejuan Fan, Ezra Linley, Cathy Rowe, Silvia Darcangelo, Ashley D. Otter, Joanna Ellis, F.D. Richard Hobbs, Victoria Tzortziou-Brown, Maria Zambon, Mary Ramsay, Kevin E. Brown, Gayatri Amirthalingam, Nick J. Andrews, Simon De Lusignan, Jamie Lopez Bernal

Peninsula Medical School

No abstract provided.

Floating Hydroelastic Circular Plate In Regular And Irregular Waves, Simone Michele, Siming Zheng, Federica Buriani, Alistair G.L. Borthwick, Deborah M. Greaves

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

An understanding of the hydroelastic response of a flexible circular plate to water waves is relevant to many problems in ocean engineering ranging from offshore wave energy converters and solar wind devices to very large floating structures such as floating airports and ice sheets. This paper describes results from physical model tests undertaken in the COAST laboratory at the University of Plymouth. Response amplitude operators (RAOs) of a floating flexible circular disk are determined for incident monochromatic and irregular wave trains, the latter defined by JONSWAP spectra. Free-surface displacements are measured using wave gauges, and the plate motion recorded using …

Developed Graphene/Si Schottky Junction Solar Cells Based On The Top-Window Structure, Hilal Al Busaidi, Ahmed Suhail, David Jenkins, Genhua Pan

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD)-graphene has potentially been integrated with silicon (Si) substrates for developing graphene/n-Si Schottky junction solar cells prepared with the top window structure. However, there are drawbacks to prepared devices such as complex silicon dioxide (SiO2)-etching steps, low fill factors and stability of doped devices. In this work, SiO2 patterns are simply formed using a sputtering process rather than the previous complex method. Additionally, the fill factor for prepared devices is developed by using transferred residue-free multi-graphene layers. The usage of 3 graphene layers improves the power conversion efficiency (PCE) to 7.1%. A recorded PCE of around 17% …

Comprehensive Measurement Of The Prevalence Of Dementia In Low- And Middle-Income Countries: Stride Methodology And Its Application In Indonesia And South Africa, Nicolas Farina, Roxanne Jacobs, Yuda Turana, Fasihah Irfani Fitri, Marguerite Schneider, Imelda Theresia, Sumaiyah Docrat, Tara Puspitarini Sani, Lydia Augustina, Emiliano Albanese, Adelina Comas-Herrera, Toit P Du, Cleusa P. Ferri, Ishtar Govia, Aliaa Ibnidris, Martin Knapp, Sube Banerjee

Peninsula Medical School

Background A core element of the Strengthening Responses to Dementia in Developing Countries (STRiDE) programme was to generate novel data on the prevalence, cost and impact of dementia in low- and middle-income countries, to build better health policy. Indonesia and South Africa are two middle-income countries in need of such data. Aims To present the STRiDE methodology and generate estimates of dementia prevalence in Indonesia and South Africa. Method We conducted community-based, single-phase, cross-sectional studies in Indonesia and South Africa, randomly sampling participants aged 65 years or older in each country. Dementia prevalence rates for each country were generated by …

How To … Define Clinical Education Research Terminology: A Glossary, Gabrielle M. Finn, Ben Charmer, Oliver E. Burton, Aqua Asif, Matthew H.V. Byrne, Nicola Brennan, Megan E.L. Brown

Peninsula Medical School

Clinical education research (ClinEdR) utilises diverse terminology, which can lead to confusion. A common language is essential for enhancing impact. An expert panel drawn from various workstreams within the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Incubator for Clinical Education Research was tasked with reviewing an initial list of terms for the development of a glossary of terms in the field of ClinEdR. The glossary was populated with terms, definitions and foundational papers by the authors and peer-reviewed for accuracy. The glossary of terms developed for ClinEdR should enable researchers to use a common language, promoting consistency and improving …

A Pragmatic, Multicentre, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Randomised Trial To Assess The Safety, Clinical And Cost-Effectiveness Of Mirtazapine And Carbamazepine In People With Alzheimer’S Disease And Agitated Behaviours: The Hta-Symbad Trial, Sube Banerjee, Nicolas Farina, Catherine Henderson, Juliet High, Susan Stirling, Lee Shepstone, Julia Fountain, Clive Ballard, Peter Bentham, Alistair Burns, Chris Fox, Paul Francis, Robert Howard, Martin Knapp, Iracema Leroi, Gill Livingston, Ramin Nilforooshan, Shirley Nurock, John O’Brien, Annabel Price, Alan J. Thomas, Ann Marie Swart, Tanya Telling, Naji Tabet

Peninsula Medical School

No abstract provided.

Identifying Core Components Of A Radiotherapy Comfort Intervention Package Using Nominal Group Technique Radiography, S. Goldsworthy, J.M. Latour, S. Palmer, H. Mcnair, M. Cramp

School of Nursing and Midwifery

Introduction A comfortable treatment position in radiotherapy may promote patient stability and improve outcomes such as accuracy. The aim of this study was to identify, prioritise and determine the feasibility of delivery of intervention components as part of a radiotherapy comfort intervention package. Methods Prior research, consisting of a systematic review and qualitative interviews with patient and therapeutic radiographers, was triangulated and 15 intervention components developed. An online nominal group technique consensus meeting with 7 patients who received radiotherapy exceeding 10 min for one of three anatomical cancer sites and 3 therapeutic radiographers (TRs) participated. Four activities were undertaken: 1) …

Mental Imagery Of Suicide And Non-Suicidal Self-Injury: A Meta-Analysis And Systematic Review, Hannah R. Lawrence, Emma G. Balkind, Julie L. Ji, Taylor A. Burke, Richard T. Liu

School of Psychology

Background The vast majority of research on, and clinical assessment of, cognitions related to suicide and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) has focused on verbal thoughts. And yet, mental imagery is more realistic and emotionally arousing than verbal thoughts. Methods We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis documenting the prevalence of suicidal and NSSI mental imagery and describing the content and characteristics of suicidal and NSSI mental imagery, links between suicidal and NSSI mental imagery and suicidal and NSSI behavior, and how to intervene on suicidal and NSSI mental imagery. Studies published through December 17, 2022 were identified through a systematic search …

Guiding Principles For Effective Collaborative Implementation Strategies For Multisite Hospital Improvement Initiatives: A Mixed-Method Realist Evaluation Of Collaborative Strategies Used In Four Multisite Initiatives At Public Hospitals In New South Wales, Australia, Janet C. Long, Mitchell N. Sarkies, Emilie Francis-Auton, Natalie Roberts, Rebecca Hardwick, Hoa Mi Nguyen, Jean Frederic Levesque, Diane E. Watson, Johanna Westbrook, Peter D. Hibbert, Frances Rapport, Jeffrey Braithwaite

Peninsula Medical School

Objective Large-scale, multisite hospital improvement initiatives can advance high-quality care for patients. Implementation support is key to adoption of change in this context. Strategies that foster collaboration within local teams, across sites and between initiative developers and users are important. However not all implementation strategies are successful in all settings, sometimes realising poor or unintended outcomes. Our objective here is to develop guiding principles for effective collaborative implementation strategies for multi-site hospital initiatives. Design Mixed-method realist evaluation. Realist studies aim to examine the underlying theories that explain differing outcomes, identifying mechanisms and contextual factors that may trigger them. Setting We …