102 research outputs found

    Creating Equality for those in Crisis : Transforming Acute Inpatient Mental Health Services through Co-Production

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    The 21st century has seen an increasing focus on the concept of co-production in seeking to tackle the tokenistic approach often taken by services to recovery in mental health. It originated from the scholarly work of Elinor Ostrom in America in the 1970’s and was further developed through the works of Edgar Cahn. In a bid to create a service that is more recovery orientated, many community mental health services have adopted co-production as a foundation for all work they conduct with service users/family members and carers. It is reported that co-production can be transformative in practice if done correctly. More specifically, this can include circumstances where individuals are presenting in crisis. However, there is a paucity of research/perspectives in this specific area. The aim of this perspective paper is to highlight such literature whilst also debating the ethical considerations to co-production within the acute inpatient mental health services.  &nbsp

    Mapping the City: : participatory mapping with young people

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    In this article we discuss an ongoing research project that uses participatory mapping to gain insights into the worlds of young people. For the last ten years we have worked with hundreds of people in schools, youth groups and at public events, asking them to use low-tech cartographic techniques to reveal the rich, complex and important aspects of their lives missing from most depictions of cities. We explain the importance of such work and the approaches to mapping used in the project, and explore some of the insights gleaned from over 2000 maps produced

    Acylation of the Lipooligosaccharide of Haemophilus influenzae and Colonization: an htrB Mutation Diminishes the Colonization of Human Airway Epithelial Cells

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    Haemophilus influenzae is a commensal and opportunistic pathogen of the human airways. A number of surface molecules contribute to colonization of the airways by H. influenzae, such as adhesins, including structures found in the lipooligosaccharide (LOS). A human bronchiolar xenograft model was employed to investigate the host-bacterial interactions involved in the colonization of the airway by H. influenzae. Differential display was used to identify H. influenzae mRNA that reflect genes which were preferentially expressed in the xenograft compared to growth. Eleven mRNA fragments had consistent increased expression when the bacteria grew in xenografts. On sequencing these fragments, eight open reading frames were identified. Three of these had no match in the NCBI or the TIGR database, while an additional three were homologous to genes involved in heme or iron acquisition and utilization: two of the mRNAs encoded proteins homologous to enzymes involved in LOS biosynthesis: a heptosyl transferase (rfaF) involved in the synthesis of the LOS core and a ketodeoxyoctonate phosphate-dependent acyltransferase (htrB) that performs one of the late acylation reactions in lipid A synthesis. Inoculation of human bronchiolar xenografts revealed a significant reduction in colonization capacity by htrB mutants. In vitro, htrB mutants elicited lesser degrees of cytoskeletal rearrangement and less stimulation of host cell signaling with 16HBE14o- cells and decreased intracellular survival. These results implicate acylation of H. influenzae lipid A as playing a key role in the organisms' colonization of the normal airway

    3D printed biomimetic cochleae and machine learning co-modelling provides clinical informatics for cochlear implant patients.

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    Cochlear implants restore hearing in patients with severe to profound deafness by delivering electrical stimuli inside the cochlea. Understanding stimulus current spread, and how it correlates to patient-dependent factors, is hampered by the poor accessibility of the inner ear and by the lack of clinically-relevant in vitro, in vivo or in silico models. Here, we present 3D printing-neural network co-modelling for interpreting electric field imaging profiles of cochlear implant patients. With tuneable electro-anatomy, the 3D printed cochleae can replicate clinical scenarios of electric field imaging profiles at the off-stimuli positions. The co-modelling framework demonstrated autonomous and robust predictions of patient profiles or cochlear geometry, unfolded the electro-anatomical factors causing current spread, assisted on-demand printing for implant testing, and inferred patients' in vivo cochlear tissue resistivity (estimated mean = 6.6 kΩcm). We anticipate our framework will facilitate physical modelling and digital twin innovations for neuromodulation implants

    Associations of Dietary Long-Chain n-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and Fish With Biomarkers of Inflammation and Endothelial Activation (from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis [MESA])

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    Cardioprotective effects of long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC n-3 PUFA) and fish consumption have been observed. However, data on the specific associations of these dietary factors with inflammation and endothelial activation are sparse. We conducted a cross-sectional study of 5,677 men and women from the MESA cohort including African Americans, Caucasians, Chinese and Hispanics, aged 45-84 years, and free of clinical cardiovascular disease. Dietary information was collected by self-administered food frequency questionnaire. Multivariable linear regression analyses were used to examine relations between intake of LC n-3 PUFAs, non-fried fish and fried fish and biomarkers of inflammation and endothelial activation. LC n-3 PUFA intakes were inversely associated with plasma concentrations of interleukin-6 (IL-6, P=0.01) and matrix metalloproteinase-3 (MMP-3, P=0.03) independent of age, body mass index, physical activity, smoking, alcohol consumption and dietary variables. Non-fried fish consumption was found inversely related to C-reactive protein (CRP, P=0.045) and IL-6 (P<0.01); and fried fish was observed being inversely related to soluble intercellular adhesion molecules-1 (sICAM-1) (P<0.01) but not associated with other biomarkers after adjustment for potential confounders. In conclusion, this study suggests that dietary intakes of LC n-3 PUFAs and fish are inversely associated with concentrations of some biomarkers reflecting lower levels of inflammation and endothelial activation. These results may partially explain the cardioprotective effects of fish consumption

    A multicenter study of acute testicular torsion in the time of COVID-19

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    Background: Testicular torsion is a surgical emergency, and time to detorsion is imperative for testicular salvage. During the COVID-19 pandemic, patients may delay emergency care due to stay-at-home orders and concern of COVID-19 exposure. Objective: To assess whether emergency presentation for testicular torsion was delayed during the COVID-19 pandemic, and whether the rate of orchiectomy increased compared to a retrospective period. Study design: Patients were prospectively enrolled in a multicenter study from seven institutions in the United States and Canada. Inclusion criteria were patients two months to 18 years of age with acute testicular torsion from March through July 2020. The retrospective group included patients from January 2019 through February 2020. Statistical analysis was performed using Kruskal–Wallis tests, Chi-square tests, and logistic regression. Results: A total of 221 patients were included: 84 patients in the COVID-19 cohort and 137 in the retrospective cohort. Median times from symptom onset to emergency department presentation during COVID-19 compared to the retrospective period were 17.9 h (IQR 5.5–48.0) and 7.5 h (IQR 4.0–28.0) respectively (p = 0.04). In the COVID-19 cohort, 42% of patients underwent orchiectomy compared to 29% of pre-pandemic controls (p = 0.06). During COVID-19, 46% of patients endorsed delay in presentation compared to 33% in the retrospective group (p = 0.04). Discussion: We found a significantly longer time from testicular torsion symptom onset to presentation during the pandemic and a higher proportion of patients reported delaying care. Strengths of the study include the number of included patients and the multicenter prospective design during the pandemic. Limitations include a retrospective pre-pandemic comparison group. Conclusions: In a large multicenter study we found a significantly longer time from testicular torsion symptom onset to presentation during the pandemic and a significantly higher proportion of patients reported delaying care. Based on the findings of this study, more patient education is needed on the management of testicular torsion during a pandemic

    A multicenter study of acute testicular torsion in the time of COVID-19

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    Background: Testicular torsion is a surgical emergency, and time to detorsion is imperative for testicular salvage. During the COVID-19 pandemic, patients may delay emergency care due to stay-at-home orders and concern of COVID-19 exposure. Objective: To assess whether emergency presentation for testicular torsion was delayed during the COVID-19 pandemic, and whether the rate of orchiectomy increased compared to a retrospective period. Study design: Patients were prospectively enrolled in a multicenter study from seven institutions in the United States and Canada. Inclusion criteria were patients two months to 18 years of age with acute testicular torsion from March through July 2020. The retrospective group included patients from January 2019 through February 2020. Statistical analysis was performed using Kruskal–Wallis tests, Chi-square tests, and logistic regression. Results: A total of 221 patients were included: 84 patients in the COVID-19 cohort and 137 in the retrospective cohort. Median times from symptom onset to emergency department presentation during COVID-19 compared to the retrospective period were 17.9 h (IQR 5.5–48.0) and 7.5 h (IQR 4.0–28.0) respectively (p = 0.04). In the COVID-19 cohort, 42% of patients underwent orchiectomy compared to 29% of pre-pandemic controls (p = 0.06). During COVID-19, 46% of patients endorsed delay in presentation compared to 33% in the retrospective group (p = 0.04). Discussion: We found a significantly longer time from testicular torsion symptom onset to presentation during the pandemic and a higher proportion of patients reported delaying care. Strengths of the study include the number of included patients and the multicenter prospective design during the pandemic. Limitations include a retrospective pre-pandemic comparison group. Conclusions: In a large multicenter study we found a significantly longer time from testicular torsion symptom onset to presentation during the pandemic and a significantly higher proportion of patients reported delaying care. Based on the findings of this study, more patient education is needed on the management of testicular torsion during a pandemic
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