Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Breast Cancer Recurrence Rate In Patients Treated For Early Breast Cancer, Cecilia Munguti

Master of Medicine in General Surgery

Background: Breast cancer, the leading cause of cancer in Kenya among women, has a prevalence of 57.1 per 100,000 women and an annual mortality of 3.7 per 100,000. Early breast cancer is curable, but has a residual risk of recurrence of 10.4% in the first 5 years. Fifty percent of the recurrences occur after the first 5 years after diagnosis. Recurrent breast cancer is associated with poorer prognosis and higher mortality rates. Objectives: The primary objective was to determine the breast cancer recurrence rates for women managed for DCIS and early breast cancer at Aga Khan University Hospital. Secondary objectives …

The Quality Of Life Of Patients With Early Breast Cancer And Their Partners One Year After Breast Conserving Surgery Versus Modified Radical Mastectomy: A Single Centre Five Year Review, Senoga Andrew

Master of Medicine in General Surgery

Background: Breast cancer accounts for the highest incidence rate (40.3/100000) and fourth highest mortality rate (17.8/100000) among cancers in Kenya. Forty percent of breast cancer cases in Kenya are early breast cancer and this is will increase with scaled up awareness campaigns and screening. Breast conserving surgery (BCS) followed by radiotherapy (BCT) and modified radical mastectomy (MRM) are the commonest forms of surgical techniques utilized in treatment of early breast cancer with similar overall survival and recurrence rates. These treatments impact variably on the quality of life of the patients and their spouses who are their immediate emotional and social …

Prevalence And Factors Associated To Incidental Prostate Carcinoma Among Patients Undergoing Turp For Benign Prostatic Enlargement., Isaac Herman Mawalla

Master of Medicine in General Surgery

Background: Prostate carcinoma carries higher morbidity and mortality when diagnosed late. Prostate cancer screening is paramount, however, there are no specific clinical signs for early-stage prostate cancer. As an independent variable, prostate-specific antigen is an established predictor of cancer. Incidental prostate cancer is detected by histological examination of resected biopsy tissue that had been previously diagnosed as benign. In the current PSA-use era the prevalence of incidental prostate cancer ranges from 1.4 to 13%. The prevalence in Tanzania as published by Gunda et al was 21.71%. This is alarmingly high. However, in his study, patients with high prostate-specific antigens were …

Perceptions Of Surgeons On Surgical Antibiotic Prophylaxis Use At Aga Khan Hospital, Dar Es Salaam., Elizabeth Elibariki Mmari

Master of Medicine in General Surgery

Introduction: Surgical site infections are a major cause of morbidity and mortality among operated patients. The use of antibiotic prophylaxis in prevention and reduction of incidence of surgical site infection is widespread. In spite of the accessibility of universal and national guidelines for surgical prophylaxis, recent studies surveying the present routine of prophylaxis have demonstrated overutilization of a wide range antibacterial medications for a single patient. Few studies have shown qualitatively factors influencing this, and perceptions of surgeons on surgical antibiotic prophylaxis use. Unfortunately, none of these studies have been done in Tanzania. Objective: To describe the perceptions of surgeons …

Referral Patterns Affecting Age At Orchidopexy For Undescended Testis At A Tertiary Hospital In Nairobi., Muthua Ken Njoroge

Master of Medicine in General Surgery

BACKGROUND: Undescended Testis is the most common urological congenital anomaly with significant burden of disease especially in our local context. Management relies on early diagnosis, in the perinatal period, and prompt referral to an appropriate surgical unit. Spontaneous descent, while possible, doesn’t occur beyond 6 months and thus surveillance should not proceed beyond this age. Current guidelines recommend surveillance up to 6 months, referral by 9 months and, most importantly, orchidopexy by 1 year of age. Despite these clear guidelines, achieving them has proven difficult globally with low rates of orchidopexy by 1 year. The most common cited cause has …

The Status Of Smokeless Tobacco Use And Its Associated Factors Among The Business Guilds Population Of Chabahar, Seyed Saeed Mazloomy Mahmoodabad, Mohammad Saeed Jadgal, Iraj Zareban, Hossein Fallahzadeh

Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice

Purpose: Use of smokeless tobacco is a major preventable cause of premature death and diseases. It leads to over 5 million deaths annually worldwide. This study aimed to investigate the status of smokeless tobacco use and its associated factors among the business guilds population of Chabahar City, Iran. Method: The present descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 320 users of various types of smokeless tobacco selected by simple random sampling method. Data were collected using a researcher-made demographic questionnaire, smokeless tobacco inventory, attitude questionnaire, and behavior questionnaire. The validity and reliability of these tools were confirmed in the previous studies. …

Can The Forward-Step-Down Test Be Used Reliably In The Clinical Setting To Assess Movement Changes Resulting From Maximal Exertion? A Pilot Study, Erin Mccallister, Daniel W. Flowers

Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice

Introduction: Visual assessment of lower extremity mechanics is used frequently in clinical practice, and objective scoring of the visual assessment is beneficial to improve objectivity of patient evaluation. In addition, lower extremity mechanics change with fatigue and these changes may increase the risk of lower extremity injury. The Forward-Step-Down Test (FSDT) is one such objective tool, but its ability to detect changes in movement quality in response to exertion are not known. Methods: This study utilized a repeated-measures design, where the participants were scored on the FSDT before performing the Bruce protocol for an exertion stimulus. The participants were re-scored …

Adoption Of The Health Information Exchange (Hie) System And The Role Of The Healthcare Leadership, Muhammad Faisal Ashfaque

Theses and Dissertations

The advancement in technology calls for improvement in service delivery in healthcare systems, especially in the present health pandemic of the COVID-19. At present, healthcare systems utilize several electronic health techniques. However, there is a need for the creation of interoperability that can assist healthcare organizations in exchanging data more effectively through the global adoption of healthcare information exchange (HIE). The current research examines the adoption of HIEs and healthcare leadership roles to realize a fully functional interoperable patient HIE. This study utilized the systematic document analysis method to review qualitative data on the different aspects of healthcare leadership, implementation …

Dietary Fat Intakes In Irish Children: Changes Between 2005 And 2019, Aileen O’Connor, Maria Buffini, Anne Nugent, Laura Kehoe, Albert Flynn, Janette Walton, John Kearney, Breige Mcnulty

Articles

Objective:To examine current dietary fat intakes and compliance in Irish childrenand to examine changes in intakes from 2005 to 2019.Design:Analyses were based on data from the Irish National Children’s FoodSurvey (NCFS) and the NSFS II, two cross-sectional studies that collected detailedfood and beverage intake data through 7-day and 4-day weighed food diaries,respectively.Setting:NCFS and NCFS II, Republic of Ireland.Participants:A nationally representative sample of 594 (NCFS) and 600 (NCFS II)children aged 5–12 years. Current intakes from the NCFS II were compared withthose previously reported in the NCFS (www.iuna.net).Results:Current intakes of total fat, SFA, MUFA, PUFA andtransfat as a percentageof total energy are …

A Review Of The Influence Of Fathers On Children's Eating Behaviours And Dietary Intake, Stephanie Rahill, Aileen Kennedy, John Kearney

Articles

The role of fathers in child rearing has changed in recent years due to an increase in maternal employment. Despite this, the majority of research has focused on maternal influences and behaviours in relation to child feeding. Therefore, the aims of the narrative review were: 1) to examine the role and responsibility of fathers in child feeding and the factors associated with paternal responsibility in child feeding; 2) to establish how paternal modelling, paternal diets, and paternal feeding practices relate to children's eating behaviours and dietary intake; and 3) to explore the role of maternal perceptions on paternal feeding roles, …

Using Velocity To Predict The Maximum Dynamic Strength In The Power Clean, G. Gregory Haff, Amador Garcia-Ramos, Lachlan P. James

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The primary aim of the present study was to examine the commonly performed training exercise for athlete preparation. Twenty-two recreationally trained males (age: 26.3 ± 4.1 y, height: 1.80 ± 0.07 m; body mass (BM): 87.01 ± 13.75 kg, 1-repetitoon maximum(1-RM)/BM: 0.90 ± 0.19 kg) participated in the present study. All subjects had their 1-RM power clean tested with standard procedures. On a separate testing day, subjects performed three repetitions at 30% and 45%, and two repetitions at 70% and 80% of their 1-RM power clean. During all trials during both sessions, peak velocity (PV) and mean velocity (MV) were …

Autoregulation In Resistance Training: Addressing The Inconsistencies, Leon Greig, Ben Hayden Stephens Hemingway, Rodrigo R. Aspe, Kay Cooper, Paul Comfort, Paul A. Swinton

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

© 2020, The Author(s). Autoregulation is a process that is used to manipulate training based primarily on the measurement of an individual’s performance or their perceived capability to perform. Despite being established as a training framework since the 1940s, there has been limited systematic research investigating its broad utility. Instead, researchers have focused on disparate practices that can be considered specific examples of the broader autoregulation training framework. A primary limitation of previous research includes inconsistent use of key terminology (e.g., adaptation, readiness, fatigue, and response) and associated ambiguity of how to implement different autoregulation strategies. Crucially, this ambiguity in …

What Do We Know About The Nexus Between Culture, Age, Gender And Health Literacy? Implications For Improving The Health And Well-Being Of Young Indigenous Males, Anthony Merlino, James A. Smith, Mick Adams, Jason Bonson, Richard Osborne, Barry Judd, Murray Drummond, David Aanundsen, Jesse Fleay, Benjamin Christie

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Health literacy, although diversely defined, refers to the abilities, relationships and external environments required for people to successfully promote health. Existing research suggests that health literacy is related to health inequities, including individual and community capacity to navigate health. A diverse range of factors shape health literacy abilities and environments, especially culture, gender and age. However, the nexus between these variables and their cumulative impact on health literacy development remains largely unexplored. Commentary that explores these dynamics among young Indigenous males is particularly scant. In turn, strategies to bridge health equity gaps have been obscured. This article brings together disparate …

Contextualizing Performance Of Coordinated Care Network Of Veteran Services In Virginia, Marina Saitgalina, Donta Council

School of Public Service Faculty Publications

Coordinated care network is an approach to human service delivery that is recognized to improve client outcomes at a reduced cost. However, general mixed findings on the effectiveness of coordinated care networks warrant research contextualization. This article seeks to discover factors influencing the performance of a coordinated care network delivering social services to veterans and their families. The study provides a contextual analysis of a coordinated care network launched in 2016 in southeastern Virginia for two samples of 1,512 and 375 veterans and their families. Results of the regression analyses indicate that initial progress has been made both in efficiency …

Prevalence And Correlates Of Transactional Sex Among Women Of Low Socioeconomic Status In Portland, Or, Timothy Menza, Lauren Lipira, Amisha Bhattarai, Victoria Cali-De Leon, E. Roberto Orellana

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: Women who report transactional sex are at increased risk for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). However, in the United States, social, behavioral, and trauma-related vulnerabilities associated with transactional sex are understudied and data on access to biomedical HIV prevention among women who report transactional sex are limited.

Methods: In 2016, we conducted a population-based, cross-sectional survey of women of low socioeconomic status recruited via respondent-driven sampling in Portland, Oregon. We calculated the prevalence and, assessed the correlates of, transactional sex using generalized linear models accounting for sampling design. We also compared health outcomes, HIV screening, and knowledge …

A Multi-Stage Machine Learning Approach To Predict Dengue Incidence: A Case Study In Mexico, Annalisa Appice, Yulia R. Gel, Iliyan Iliev, Vyacheslav Lyubchich, Donato Malerba

Faculty Publications

© 2013 IEEE. The mosquito-borne dengue fever is a major public health problem in tropical countries, where it is strongly conditioned by climate factors such as temperature. In this paper, we formulate a holistic machine learning strategy to analyze the temporal dynamics of temperature and dengue data and use this knowledge to produce accurate predictions of dengue, based on temperature on an annual scale. The temporal dynamics are extracted from historical data by utilizing a novel multi-stage combination of auto-encoding, window-based data representation and trend-based temporal clustering. The prediction is performed with a trend association-based nearest neighbour predictor. The effectiveness …

Community Engagement And Outreach Programs For Lead Prevention In Mississippi, Amal K. Mitra, Charkarra Anderson-Lewis

Faculty Publications

The objective of the project was to encourage health promotion through education, outreach, and community-based training. The people attending health fairs (n = 467), community events (n = 469), and Kindergarten classes (n = 241) were the study participants. Hands-on training was offered at homebuilding retail stores (n = 25). U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s online visual training was given to realtors (n = 220), and inspectors, contractors, and Do-It-Yourself (DIY) workers (n = 75). Training workshops were attended by home-buyers and rental home owners at the Neighborhood Association Meetings ( …

Are Current Clinical Guidelines On The Use Of Peripheral Intravenous Cannula For Blood Draws Supported By Evidence? An Organizational Case Study, Alycia Jacob, Linda Coventry, Hugh Davies, Elisabeth Jacob

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

© 2020 The Authors. Nursing Open published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd Aim: To examine the quality of evidence used to inform health policies. Policies on peripheral intravenous cannulas were used as exemplars. Design: An organizational case study design was used, using the STROBE reporting guidelines. Methods: Policy guidelines were sourced between June and September 2018 from health departments in Australia. Seven documents were compared regarding intravenous cannula dwell times and blood collection use. Evidence used in the documents was critiqued using assessment guideline from the Oxford Centre for Evidence Based Medicine. Results: Large variations exist between policies regarding …

Reviewing The Current Methods Of Assessing Hydration In Athletes, Oliver R. Barley, Dale W. Chapman, Chris R. Abbiss

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background

Despite a substantial body of research, no clear best practice guidelines exist for the assessment of hydration in athletes. Body water is stored in and shifted between different sites throughout the body complicating hydration assessment. This review seeks to highlight the unique strengths and limitations of various hydration assessment methods described in the literature as well as providing best practice guidelines.

Main body

There is a plethora of methods that range in validity and reliability, including complicated and invasive methods (i.e. neutron activation analysis and stable isotope dilution), to moderately invasive blood, urine and salivary variables, progressing to non-invasive …

Detection Of Braf Splicing Variants In Plasma-Derived Cell-Free Nucleic Acids And Extracellular Vesicles Of Melanoma Patients Failing Targeted Therapy Therapies, Michael E. Clark, Helen Rizos, Michelle Pereira, Ashleigh Mcevoy, Gabriela Marsavela, Leslie Calapre, Katie Meehan, Olivia Ruhen, Muhammad A. Khattak, Tarek M. Meniawy, Georgina Long, Matteo S. Carlino, Alexander M. Menzies, Michael Millward, Melanie Ziman, Elin S. Gray

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The analysis of plasma circulating tumour nucleic acids provides a non-invasive approach to assess disease burden and the genetic evolution of tumours in response to therapy. BRAF splicing variants are known to confer melanoma resistance to BRAF inhibitors. We developed a test to screen cell-free RNA (cfRNA) for the presence of BRAF splicing variants. Custom droplet digital PCR assays were designed for the detection of BRAF splicing variants p61, p55, p48 and p41 and then validated using RNA from cell lines carrying these variants. Evaluation of plasma from patients with reported objective response to BRAF/MEK inhibition followed by disease progression …

Copper Toxicity Links To Pathogenesis Of Alzheimer’S Disease And Therapeutics Approaches, Hafza Wajeeha Ejaz, Wei Wang, Minglin Lang

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is an irreversible, age-related progressive neurological disorder, and the most common type of dementia in aged people. Neuropathological lesions of AD are neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs), and senile plaques comprise the accumulated amyloid-beta (Aβ), loaded with metal ions including Cu, Fe, or Zn. Some reports have identified metal dyshomeostasis as a neurotoxic factor of AD, among which Cu ions seem to be a central cationic metal in the formation of plaque and soluble oligomers, and have an essential role in the AD pathology. Cu-Aβ complex catalyzes the generation of …

The Global, Regional, And National Burden Of Oesophageal Cancer And Its Attributable Risk Factors In 195 Countries And Territories, 1990-2017: A Systematic Analysis For The Global Burden Of Disease Study 2017, Farin Kamangar, Dariush Nasrollahzadeh, Saeid Safiri, Sadaf G. Sepanlou, Christina Fitzmaurice, Kevin S. Ikuta, Catherine Bisignano, Farhad Islami, Gholamreza Roshandel, Stephen S. Lim, Hassan Abolhassani, Eman Abu-Gharbieh, Rufus Adesoji Adedoyin, Shailesh M. Advani, Muktar Beshir Ahmed, Miloud Taki Eddine Aichour, Tomi Akinyemiju, Chisom Joyqueenet Akunna, Fares Alahdab, Vahid Alipour, Amir Almasi-Hashiani, Abdulaziz M. Almulhim, Nahla Hamed Anber, Alireza Ansari-Moghaddam, Jalal Arabloo, Morteza Arab-Zozani, Atalel Fentahun Awedew, Alaa Badawi, Kathleen S. Sachiko Berfield, Kidanemaryam Berhe, Krittika Bhattacharyya, Antonio Biondi, Tone Bjørge, Antonio M. Borzì, Cristina Bosetti, Giulia Carreras, Felix Carvalho, Clara Castro, Dinh-Toi Chu, Vera Marisa Costa, Baye Dagnew, Jiregna Darega Gela, Ahmad Daryani, Feleke Mekonnen Demeke, Gebre Teklemariam Demoz, Mostafa Dianatinasab, Iffat Elbarazi, Mohammad Hassan Emamian, Arash Etemadi, Pawan Sirwan Faris, Eduarda Fernandes, Irina Filip, Florian Fischer, Mohamed M. Gad, Silvano Gallus, Abadi Kahsu Gebre, Tsegaye Tewelde Gebrehiwot, Gebreamlak Gebremedhn Gebremeskel, Begashaw Melaku Gebresillassie, Fatemah Ghasemi-Kebria, Ahmad Ghashghaee, Nermin Ghith, Mahaveer Golechha, Giuseppe Gorini, Rahul Gupta, Nima Hafezi-Nejad, Arvin Haj-Mirzaian, James D. Harvey, Maryam Hashemian, Hamid Yimam Hassen, Simon I. Hay, Andualem Henok, Chi Linh Hoang, H. Dean Hosgood, Mowafa Househ, Olayinka Stephen Ilesanmi, Milena D. Ilic, Seyed Sina Naghibi Irvani, Charvi Jain, Spencer L. James, Sun Ha Jee, Ravi Prakash Jha, Farahnaz Joukar, Ali Kabir, Amir Kasaeian, Mesfin Wudu Kassaw, Supreet Kaur, Andre Pascal Kengne, Esma Kerboua, Yousef Saleh Khader, Rovshan Khalilov, Ejaz Ahmad Khan, Abdullah T. Khoja, Jonathan M. Kocarnik, Hamidreza Komaki, Vivek Kumar, Carlo La Vecchia, Savita Lasrado, Bingyu Li, Alan D. Lopez, Azeem Majeed, Navid Manafi, Ana Laura Manda, Fariborz Mansour-Ghanaei, Manu Raj Mathur, Varshil Mehta, Dhruv Mehta, Walter Mendoza, Prasanna Mithra, Karzan Abdulmuhsin Mohammad, Abdollah Mohammadian-Hafshejani, Reza Mohammadpourhodki, Jemal Abdu Mohammed, Farnam Mohebi, Ali H. Mokdad, Lorenzo Monasta, Delaram Moosavi, Mahmood Moosazadeh, Ghobad Moradi, Farhad Moradpour, Rahmatollah Moradzadeh, Gurudatta Naik, Lonut Negoi, Haruna Asura Nggada, Huong Lan Thi Nguyen, Rajan Nikbakhsh, Molly R. Nixon, Andrew T. Olagunju, Jagadish Roa. Padubidri, Keyvan Pakshir, Shanti Patel, Mona Pathak, Hai Quang Pham, Akram Pourshams, Navid Rabiee, Mohammad Rabiee, Amir Radfar, Alireza Rafiei, Kiana Ramezanzadeh, Goura Kishor Rath, Priya Rathi, Salman Rawaf, David Laith Rawaf, Nima Rezaei, Elias Merdassa Roro, Anas M. Saad, Hamideh Salimzadeh, Abdallah M. Samy, Benn Sartorius, Arash Sarvaezad, Mario Sekerija, Feng Sha, Morteza Shamsizadeh, Sara Sheikhbahaei, Reza Shirkoohi, Sudeep K. Siddappa Malleshappa, Jasvinder A. Singh, Dhirendra Narain Sinha, Catalin-Gabriel Smarandache, Sergey Soshnikov, Hafiz Ansar Rasul Suleria, Degena Bahrey Tadesse, Berhe Etsay Tesfay, Bhaskar Thakur, Eugenio Traini, Khanh Bao Tran, Bach Xuan Tran, Irfan Ullah, Marco Vacante, Yousef Veisani, Isidora S. Vujcic, Girmay Teklay Weldesamuel, Rixing Xu, Vahid Yazdi-Feyzabadi, Deniz Yuce, Vesna Zadnik, Zoubida Zaidi, Zhi-Jiang Zhang, Reza Malekzadeh, Mohsen Naghavi, Gbd 2017 Oesophageal Cancer Collaborators

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

© 2020 The Author(s). Background Oesophageal cancer is a common and often fatal cancer that has two main histological subtypes: oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma and oesophageal adenocarcinoma. Updated statistics on the incidence and mortality of oesophageal cancer, and on the disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) caused by the disease, can assist policy makers in allocating resources for prevention, treatment, and care of oesophageal cancer. We report the latest estimates of these statistics for 195 countries and territories between 1990 and 2017, by age, sex, and Socio-demographic Index (SDI), using data from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2017 …

Biceps Brachii Muscle Hardness Assessed By A Push-In Meter In Comparison To Ultrasound Strain Elastography, Mitsuyoshi Murayama, Kazunori Nosaka, Takayuki Inami, Norihiro Shima, Tsugutake Yoneda

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

© 2020, The Author(s). This study investigated the relationship between push-in meter (PM) and ultrasound strain elastography (USE) for biceps brachii (BB) muscle hardness. BB hardness of 21 young men was assessed by PM and USE during rest and isometric contractions of six different intensities (15, 30, 45, 60, 75, 90% of maximal voluntary contraction: MVC) at 30°, 60° and 90° elbow flexion. Muscle hardness (E) was calculated from the force–displacement relationship in PM, and strain ratio (SR) between an acoustic coupler (elastic modulus: 22.6 kPa) and different regions of interest (ROIs) in BB was calculated and converted to Young’s …

A Platform In The Use Of Medicines To Treat Chronic Hepatitis C (Platinum C): Protocol For A Prospective Treatment Registry Of Real-World Outcomes For Hepatitis C, Jessica Ramsay, Julie Marsh, Alisa Pedrana, Nada Andric, Richard Norman, Wendy Cheng, Steve Webb, Nikolajs Zeps, Matthew Bellgard, Todd Graves, Margaret Hellard, Tom Snelling

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

© 2020, The Author(s). Background: Safe, highly curative, short course, direct acting antiviral (DAA) therapies are now available to treat chronic hepatitis C. DAA therapy is freely available to all adults chronically infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) in Australia. If left untreated, hepatitis C may lead to progressive hepatic fibrosis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Australia is committed to eliminating hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030 set by the World Health Organization. However, since the introduction of funded DAA treatment, uptake has been suboptimal. Australia needs improved strategies for testing, treatment uptake and treatment completion to address …

Automated Smart Home Assessment To Support Pain Management: Multiple Methods Analysis, Roschelle L. Fritz, Marian Wilson, Gordana Dermody, Maureen Schmitter-Edgecombe, Diane J. Cook

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

©Roschelle L Fritz, Marian Wilson, Gordana Dermody, Maureen Schmitter-Edgecombe, Diane J Cook. Objective: This study aimed to determine if a smart home can detect pain-related behaviors to perform automated assessment and support intervention for persons with chronic pain.Background: Poorly managed pain can lead to substance use disorders, depression, suicide, worsening health, and increased use of health services. Most pain assessments occur in clinical settings away from patients’ natural environments. Advances in smart home technology may allow observation of pain in the home setting. Smart homes recognizing human behaviors may be useful for quantifying functional pain interference, thereby creating new ways …

Tumour Pd-L1 Expression In Small-Cell Lung Cancer: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Emmanuel Acheampong, Afaf Abed, Michael Morici, Samantha Bowyer, Benhur Amanuel, Weitao Lin, Michael Millward, Elin S. Gray

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

: Antibodies against programmed death-1 (PD-1), and its ligand, (PD-L1) have been approved recently for the treatment of small-cell lung cancer (SCLC). Although there are previous reports that addressed PD-L1 detection on tumour cells in SCLC, there is no comprehensive meta-analysis on the prevalence of PD-L1 expression in SCLC. We performed a systematic search of the PubMed, Cochrane Library and EMBASE databases to assess reports on the prevalence of PD-L1 expression and the association between PD-L1 expression and overall survival (OS). This meta-analysis included 27 studies enrolling a total of 2792 patients. The pooled estimate of PD-L1 expression was 26.0% …

Interpreting Health Events In Big Data Using Qualitative Traditions, Roschelle L. Fritz, Gordana Dermody

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

© The Author(s) 2020. The training of artificial intelligence requires integrating real-world context and mathematical computations. To achieve efficacious smart health artificial intelligence, contextual clinical knowledge serving as ground truth is required. Qualitative methods are well-suited to lend consistent and valid ground truth. In this methods article, we illustrate the use of qualitative descriptive methods for providing ground truth when training an intelligent agent to detect Restless Leg Syndrome. We show how one interdisciplinary, inter-methodological research team used both sensor-based data and the participant’s description of their experience with an episode of Restless Leg Syndrome for training the intelligent agent. …

Evaluation Of A Remote Symptom Assessment And Management (Sam) System For People Receiving Adjuvant Chemotherapy For Breast Or Colorectal Cancer: Mixed Methods Study, Lisa Whitehead, Laura Emery, Deborah Kirk, Diane Twigg, Deborah Brown, Joanna Dewar

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

©Lisa Whitehead, Laura Emery, Deborah Kirk, Diane Twigg, Deborah Brown, Joanna Dewar. Background: The Symptom Assessment and Management (SAM) program is a structured, online, nurse-supported intervention to support symptom self-management in people receiving adjuvant chemotherapy post surgery for breast or colorectal cancer. Objective: The objective of this study was to describe the development, implementation strategy, and evaluation of the SAM system. Methods: The development of the SAM program involved 3 phases. In phase 1, the web app was developed through consultation with consumers and clinicians and of the literature to ensure that the system was evidence-based and reflected the realities …

Factors Influencing Weight Loss Practices In Italian Boxers: A Cluster Analysis, Stefano Amatori, Oliver R. Barley, Erica Gobbi, Diego Vergoni, Attilio Carraro, Carlo Baldari, Laura Guidetti, Marco B.L. Rocchi, Fabrizio Perroni, Davide Sisti

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. It is common practice in combat sports that athletes rapidly lose body weight before a match, by applying different practices—some safer and others possibly dangerous. The factors behind the choice of practices utilised have not been fully studied. This study aimed to investigate the weight loss strategies used by Italian boxers and to look at the difference between higher and lower risk practice adaptors. A modified version of a validated questionnaire has been sent to 164 amateur (88%) and professional (12%) boxers by email. A heatmap with hierarchical clustering was used …

Tripping Over The Other: Could Psychedelics Increase Empathy?, Emily Blatchford, Stephen Bright, Liam Engel

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

There is increasing evidence that psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy is effective for a range of psy-chological conditions. There are likely numerous mechanisms of action that contribute to these clinicaleffects. One such mechanism of action might involve psychedelics increasing levels of empathicfunctioning. This paper synthesises research concerning the relationship between psychedelics andempathy, emphasising neuroscientific and clinical contexts. We conclude that neuropsychological andclinical evidence imply psychedelics could lead to increased empathic functioning. The effects of psy-chedelics on the 5-HT system, default mode network, neural connectivity and ego dissolution areimplicated in these changes. Changes in empathic functioning also likely relate to increases in thepersonality trait …