41 research outputs found
The bronchodilator response in preschool children: A systematic review
BACKGROUND: The bronchodilator response (BDR) is frequently used to support diagnostic and therapeutic decision-making for children who wheeze. However, there is little evidence-based guidance describing the role of BDR testing in preschool children and it is unclear whether published cut-off values, which are derived from adult data, can be applied to this population. METHODS: We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Cochrane databases (inception-September 2015) for studies reporting response to a bronchodilator in healthy preschool children, response following placebo inhalation, and the diagnostic efficacy of BDR compared with a clinical diagnosis of asthma/recurrent wheezing. FINDINGS: We included 14 studies. Thirteen studies provided BDR data from healthy preschool children. Two studies reported response to placebo in preschool children with asthma/recurrent wheezing. Twelve studies compared BDR measurements from preschool children with asthma/recurrent wheeze to those from healthy children and seven of these studies reported diagnostic efficacy. Significant differences between the BDR measured in healthy preschool children compared with that in children with asthma/recurrent wheeze were demonstrated in some, but not all studies. Techniques such as interrupter resistance, oscillometry, and plethysmography were more consistently successfully completed than spirometry. Between study heterogeneity precluded determination of an optimum technique. INTERPRETATION: There is little evidence to suggest spirometry-based BDR can be used in the clinical assessment of preschool children who wheeze. Further evaluation of simple alternative techniques is required. Future studies should recruit children in whom airways disease is suspected and should evaluate the ability of BDR testing to predict treatment response
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Exploring flexible polynomial regression as a method to align routine clinical outcomes with daily data capture through remote technologies
Data Availability:
The data that support the findings of this study are available from Great Ormond Street Hospital, but restrictions apply to the availability of these data, which were used under license for the current study, and so are not publicly available. Data are however available from the authors upon reasonable request and with permission of Great Ormond Street Hospital.Copyright © The Author(s) 2023. Background: Clinical outcomes are normally captured less frequently than data from remote technologies, leaving a disparity in volumes of data from these different sources. To align these data, flexible polynomial regression was investigated to estimate personalised trends for a continuous outcome over time. Methods: Using electronic health records, flexible polynomial regression models inclusive of a 1st up to a 4th order were calculated to predict forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) over time in children with cystic fibrosis. The model with the lowest AIC for each individual was selected as the best fit. The optimal parameters for using flexible polynomials were investigated by comparing the measured FEV1 values to the values given by the individualised polynomial. Results: There were 8,549 FEV1 measurements from 267 individuals. For individuals with > 15 measurements (n = 178), the polynomial predictions worked well; however, with < 15 measurements (n = 89), the polynomial models were conditional on the number of measurements and time between measurements. The method was validated using BMI in the same population of children. Conclusion: Flexible polynomials can be used to extrapolate clinical outcome measures at frequent time intervals to align with daily data captured through remote technologies.UCL, GOSH and Toronto SickKids studentship. GD is supported by a Future Leaders Fellowship from UK Research & Innovation (UKRI), Grant reference: MR/T041285. All research at Great Ormond Street Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health is made possible by the NIHR Great Ormond Street Hospital Biomedical Research Centre
Acceptability, Precision and Accuracy of 3D Photonic Scanning for Measurement of Body Shape in a Multi-Ethnic Sample of Children Aged 5-11 Years: The SLIC Study.
Information on body size and shape is used to interpret many aspects of physiology, including nutritional status, cardio-metabolic risk and lung function. Such data have traditionally been obtained through manual anthropometry, which becomes time-consuming when many measurements are required. 3D photonic scanning (3D-PS) of body surface topography represents an alternative digital technique, previously applied successfully in large studies of adults. The acceptability, precision and accuracy of 3D-PS in young children have not been assessed
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Real-world effectiveness of airway clearance techniques in children with cystic fibrosis
Data Availability Statement - The study protocol is published open access. De-identified participant data are hosted in a secure DRE through GOSH DRIVE (www.goshdrive.com). Access to the data, data dictionary and informed consent forms through the DRE is available with permission from the corresponding author.Background Cystic fibrosis (CF) is commonly characterised by thick respiratory mucus. From diagnosis, people with CF are prescribed daily physiotherapy, including airway clearance techniques (ACTs). ACTs consume a large proportion of treatment time, yet the efficacy and effectiveness of ACTs are poorly understood. This study aimed to evaluate associations between the quality and quantity of ACTs and lung function in children and young people with CF. Methods Project Fizzyo, a longitudinal observational cohort study in the UK, used remote monitoring with electronic pressure sensors attached to four different commercial ACT devices to record real-time, breath-by-breath pressure data during usual ACTs undertaken at home over 16 months in 145 children. ACTs were categorised either as conformant or not with current ACT recommendations based on breath pressure and length measurements, or as missed treatments if not recorded. Daily, weekly and monthly associations between ACT category and lung function were investigated using linear mixed effects regression models adjusting for clinical confounders. Results After exclusions, 45 224 ACT treatments (135 individuals) and 21 069 days without treatments (141 individuals) were analysed. The mean±SD age of participants was 10.2±2.9 years. Conformant ACTs (21%) had significantly higher forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) (mean effect size 0.23 (95% CI 0.19–0.27) FEV1 % pred per treatment) than non-conformant (79%) or missed treatments. There was no benefit from non-conformant or missed treatments and no significant difference in FEV1 between them (mean effect size 0.02 (95% CI −0.01–0.05) FEV1 % pred per treatment). Conclusions ACTs are beneficial when performed as recommended, but most people use techniques that do not improve lung function. Work is needed to monitor and improve ACT quality and to increase the proportion of people doing effective airway clearance at home.UK Research and Innovation
MR/T041285/1
Rosetrees Trust
M712
Cystic Fibrosis Trust
CEA010
Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children
Higher Education Funding Council for England
KEI2017–01–04
Hospital for Sick Children
University College London
Partners Awar
The interaction in nuclear matter from a study of the reactions
The pion-production reactions were studied on
, , , and nuclei at an incident pion energy
of =283 MeV. Pions were detected in coincidence using the CHAOS
spectrometer. The experimental results are reduced to differential cross
sections and compared to both theoretical predictions and the reaction phase
space. The composite ratio between the
invariant masses on nuclei and on the nucleon is also presented. Near the
threshold pion pairs couple to when produced in
the reaction channel. There is a marked near-threshold
enhancement of which is consistent with theoretical
predictions addressing the partial restoration of chiral symmetry in nuclear
matter. Furthermore, the behaviour of is well
described when the restoration of chiral symmetry is combined with standard
P-wave renormalization of pions in nuclear matter. On the other hand, nuclear
matter only weakly influences , which displays a flat
behaviour throughout the energy range regardless of .Comment: 30 pages, 16 figures, PS format, accepted for publication in Nucl.
Phys
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Using reference equations to standardise incremental shuttle walk test performance in children and young people with chronic conditions and facilitate the evaluation of exercise capacity and disease severity
Data availability statement:
Data are available upon reasonable request. The data are stored at Great Ormond Street Hospital within the secure Digital Research Environment. Access is possible with permission from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.Supplementary Data are available online at: https://bmjopen.bmj.com/highwire/filestream/313786/field_highwire_adjunct_files/0/bmjopen-2023-075733supp001_data_supplement.pdf .Aims: The aim was to evaluate whether standardised exercise performance during the incremental shuttle walk test (ISWT) can be used to assess disease severity in children and young people (CYP) with chronic conditions, through (1) identifying the most appropriate paediatric normative reference equation for the ISWT, (2) assessing how well CYP with haemophilia and cystic fibrosis (CF) perform against the values predicted by the best fit reference equation and (3) evaluating the association between standardised ISWT performance and disease severity.
Methods: A cross-sectional analysis was carried out using existing data from two independent studies (2018–2019) at paediatric hospitals in London,UK. CYP with haemophilia (n=35) and CF (n=134) aged 5–18 years were included. Published reference equations for standardising ISWT were evaluated through a comparison of populations, and Bland-Altman analysis was used to assess the level of agreement between distances predicted by each equation. Associations between ISWT and disease severity were assessed with linear regression.
Results: Three relevant reference equations were identified for the ISWT that standardised performance based on age, sex and body mass index (Vardhan, Lanza, Pinho). A systematic proportional bias of standardised ISWT was observed in all equations, most pronounced with Vardhan and Lanza; the male Pinho equation was identified as most appropriate. On average, CYP with CF and haemophilia performed worse than predicted by the Pihno equation, although the range was wide. Standardised ISWT, and not ISWT distance alone, was significantly associated with forced expiratory volume in 1 s in CYP with CF. Standardised ISWT in CYP with haemophilia was slightly associated with haemophilia joint health score, but this was not significant.
Conclusions: ISWT performance may be useful in a clinic to identify those with worsening disease, but only when performance is standardised against a healthy reference population. The development of validated global reference equations is necessary for more robust assessment.This work was supported by the Sir William Coxen Trust Fund (http://opencharities.org/charities/206936), the UCL Rosetrees Stoneygate prize (M712), a Cystic Fibrosis Trust Clinical Excellence and Innovation Award (CEA010) and a UCL Partners award. HD was funded by the CF Trust Youth Activity Unlimited SRC and an NIHR GOSH BRC internship. NF received funding from a UCL, GOSH and Toronto SickKids studentship. All work at UCL GOS-ICH is supported by the NIHR GOSH BRC
General properties of the pion production reaction in nuclear matter
The pion production reaction on was
studied at incident pion energies of = 240, 260, 280, 300, and
320 MeV. The experiment was performed using the pion-channel at TRIUMF,
and multiparticle events, () and
(), were detected with the CHAOS spectrometer. Results
are reported in the form of both differential and total cross sections, and are
compared to theoretical predictions and the reaction phase space. The present
investigation of the T-dependence of the
reaction complements earlier examinations of the A-dependence of the reaction,
which was measured using , , , , , and
targets at 280 MeV. Some general properties of the
pion-induced pion production reaction in nuclear matter will be presented,
based on the combined results of the two studies.Comment: 23 pages, Latex, accepted for publication in Nucl. Phys.
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Quantity and quality of airway clearance in children and young people with cystic fibrosis
Supplementary materials are online at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1569199322006865#sec0016 .Children and young people with CF (CYPwCF) get advice about using positive expiratory pressure (PEP) or oscillating PEP (OPEP) devices to clear sticky mucus from their lungs. However, little is known about the quantity (number of treatments, breaths, or sets) or quality (breath pressures and lengths) of these daily airway clearance techniques (ACTs) undertaken at home. This study used electronic pressure sensors to record real time breath-by-breath data from 145 CYPwCF (6–16y) during routine ACTs over 2 months. ACT quantity and quality were benchmarked against individual prescriptions and accepted recommendations for device use. In total 742,084 breaths from 9,081 treatments were recorded. Individual CYPwCF maintained consistent patterns of ACT quantity and quality over time. Overall, 60% of CYPwCF did at least half their prescribed treatments, while 27% did fewer than a quarter. About 77% of pre-teens did the right number of daily treatments compared with only 56% of teenagers. CYPwCF usually did the right number of breaths. ACT quality (recommended breath length and pressure) varied between participants and depended on device. Breath pressures, lengths and pressure-length relationships were significantly different between ACT devices. PEP devices encouraged longer breaths with lower pressures, while OPEP devices encouraged shorter breaths with higher pressures. More breaths per treatment were within advised ranges for both pressure and length using PEP (30–31%) than OPEP devices (1–3%). Objective measures of quantity and quality may help to optimise ACT device selection and support CYPwCF to do regular effective ACTs.Project Fizzyo was supported by the UCL Rosetrees Stoneygate prize (M712), a Cystic Fibrosis Trust Clinical Excellence and Innovation Award (CEA010), A UCL Partners award and the HEFCE Higher Education Innovation Fund (KEI2017–01–04). HD was funded by the CF Trust Youth Activity Unlimited SRC and an NIHR GOSH BRC internship. All work at UCL GOSICH is supported by the NIHR GOSH BRC
Gamow-Teller strength distributions for nuclei in pre-supernova stellar cores
Electron-capture and -decay of nuclei in the core of massive stars
play an important role in the stages leading to a type II supernova explosion.
Nuclei in the f-p shell are particularly important for these reactions in the
post Silicon-burning stage of a presupernova star. In this paper, we
characterise the energy distribution of the Gamow-Teller Giant Resonance (GTGR)
for mid-fp-shell nuclei in terms of a few shape parameters, using data obtained
from high energy, forward scattering (p,n) and (n,p) reactions. The energy of
the GTGR centroid is further generalised as function of nuclear
properties like mass number, isospin and other shell model properties of the
nucleus. Since a large fraction of the GT strength lies in the GTGR region, and
the GTGR is accessible for weak transitions taking place at energies relevant
to the cores of presupernova and collapsing stars, our results are relevant to
the study of important -capture and -decay rates of arbitrary,
neutron-rich, f-p shell nuclei in stellar cores. Using the observed GTGR and
Isobaric Analog States (IAS) energy systematics we compare the coupling
coefficients in the Bohr-Mottelson two particle interaction Hamiltonian for
different regions of the Isotope Table.Comment: Revtex, 28 pages +7 figures (PostScript Figures, uuencoded, filename:
Sutfigs.uu). If you have difficulty printing the figures, please contact
[email protected]. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. C, Nov 01,
199
results in nuclei
The Crystal Ball () collaboration at has recently presented results
regarding a study of the reaction on and , using a nearly 4 detector. Similar results, but for the
reaction on , , ,
and , have been published earlier by the collaboration at
. In this Brief Report a comparison of the results of the two
measurements is made, which shows that the and data share relevant
common features. In particular, the increase in strength as a function of A
seen in the near-threshold invariant mass spectra reported by the
group, is also seen in the CB data, when the results from
the two groups are compared in a way which accounts for the different
acceptances of the two experiments.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, accepted for publication in Phy. Rev. C - Brief
Repor