Shelley E. Taylor

Background Many people with IBD experience fatigue, pain and faecal incontinence (FI), impacting quality of life (QoL). We developed an interactive digital online self-management intervention (IBD-BOOST) based on a theoretically informed logic model and cognitive behavioural techniques, to treat these symptoms. We aimed to assess if IBD-BOOST, alongside health care professional (HCP) support and care as usual (CAU), provides greater relief from symptoms and improvement of QoL compared with CAU alone. Methods We conducted a pragmatic multi-centre two-arm parallel group randomised controlled trial (RCT) recruiting patients from clinics and national registries who rated the impact of fatigue and/or pain and/or FI as ≥5/10. Those in the IBD-BOOST arm received 6 months access to the 12-session IBD-BOOST programme, a 30-minute telephone support call with a …

Standard white light (WL) endoscopy often misses precancerous oesophageal changes due to their only subtle differences to the surrounding normal mucosa. While deep learning (DL) based decision support systems benefit to a large extent, they face two challenges, which are limited annotated data sets and insufficient generalisation. This paper aims to fuse a DL system with human perception by exploiting computational enhancement of colour contrast. Instead of employing conventional data augmentation techniques by alternating RGB values of an image, this study employs a human colour appearance model, CIECAM, to enhance the colours of an image. When testing on a frame of endoscopic videos, the developed system firstly generates its contrast-enhanced image, then processes both original and enhanced images one after another to create initial segmentation masks. Finally, fusion takes place on the …

Most malaria morbidity in Kenya is due to Plasmodium falciparum with no cases attributed to P. vivax. Little is known about the epidemiology in northern Kenya along the border with Ethiopia and Sudan. We found that 2% of household members of P. falciparum cases were infected with P. vivax, affecting all ages in urban and rural sites.

Background Constipation may be a feature of ulcerative colitis (uc) especially in left sided or distal disease. UC associated constipation (UCAC) can cause significant morbidity; treatment is typically with dietary fibre changes and laxatives. Diagnosis may be challenging but adequate treatment may improve clinical outcomes. The cause is incompletely understood with few studies of motility and transit. Study populations often having heterogenous groups, with limited assessment of right sided colonic motility. Cine MRI is a novel technique that can assess pan-colonic motility. Using this technique, We aim to investigate regional colonic motility in patients with active disease and UCAC symptoms. Methods The study was performed prospectively with 30 participants at a single-centre. Disease extent was confirmed to be distal to the splenic flexure. Active disease was defined as a …

Introduction The American Thoracic Society and European Respiratory Society (ATS/ERS) updated their spirometry technical standards in 2019 with the intention of increasing the accuracy, precision and quality of spirometry. We assessed the technical quality of primary care spirometry according to ATS/ERS 2019 standards and evaluated inter-expert agreement on application of these standards.Methods Two hundred consecutive spirometry sessions performed by non-physiologist respiratory practitioners using a ndd EasyOne Plus spirometer in primary care -based clinics in Hillingdon Borough (Northwest London), were independently assessed by three expert respiratory physiologists. Each physiologist was part of the Association for Respiratory Technology and Physiology (ARTP) leadership, and each had >10 years of experience leading a lung function department. For each curve, FEV1 and FVC were …

Background In an Australian study of 700 community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) presentations to hospitals, only 18% received antibiotics that were concordant with guidelines. Current guidelines recommend tests for culprit organisms in severe CAP only. Most audits focus on prescribing in emergency departments (EDs).Aims Our aim was to assess if antibiotic prescribing for adults with CAP and requesting tests for culprit organisms was concordant with the Therapeutic Guidelines (TG – the principal reference standard for antibiotic use in Australia) by emergency and respiratory physicians before and during the pandemic. We hypothesised the arrival of COVID19 would increase rates of non-concordance.Methods We retrospectively identified adults admitted under a respiratory physician for CAP between January – May 2019 and 2020. CAP severity in ED and at the time of respiratory review was assessed using …

The National Institute for Health Research, now the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), was established in 2006 essentially to promote world-class research within the National Health Service (NHS). Centred on England, the NIHR works closely with the devolved nations and works in partnership with the NHS, universities, local government, other research funders, and patients and the public and is funded by the Department of Health and Social Care. 1 The NIHR funds primary research and also invests in the people and infrastructure needed to deliver research.The clinical research network (CRN) is the part of the NIHR that is soon to be rebadged as the NIHR Research Delivery Network. It supports the delivery of health and social care research, contributing to the costs of staff, training, facilities, and support services. There are currently 15 local CRNs (LCRNs) across England. The CRN …

Survival of piglets until weaning is a major contributor to the rentability of pig production systems. Large litters are often associated with complications and prolongation of the farrowing duration causing piglet mortality. The vitamin D status of the pregnant female is known to play a role in parturition problems. The present experiment investigated the effect of Solanum glaucophyllum in the diet of sows on farrowing duration and progeny survival and growth. Solanum glaucophyllum was distributed in a feed supplement to gestating sows from one week before farrowing until weaning of the piglets. Control sows received the same feed supplement but without S. glaucophyllum. Sows at an earlier gestation stage and piglets did not receive S. glaucophyllum. From 108 farrowing events and litters, on average 14.3 total born and 12.7 liveborn piglets were observed. Solanum glaucophyllum had no positive effect on the farrowing duration (222 vs. 219 min for experimental vs. control sows, respectively), average piglet expulsion interval (17.2 vs. 17.3 min), piglet vitality at birth, piglets death during nursing (2.03 vs. 1.74 piglets/litter) and piglets average daily gains (both 274 g). The proportion of stillborn piglets was even higher in sows receiving S. glaucophyllum than in control ones. Nevertheless, further studies on hyperprolific sows having no access to direct sunlight and with diets clearly deficient in either vitamin D or calcium are needed to show whether S. glaucophyllum is effective in parturient sows or not.