Identifying core components of a radiotherapy comfort intervention package using nominal group technique.

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.

A thematic exploration of patient and radiation therapist solutions to improve comfort during radiotherapy: A qualitative study.

Purpose: Patients undergoing radiotherapy are positioned to restrict motion, ensuring treatment accuracy. Immobilisation can be uncomfortable which may impact treatment accuracy. Therapeutic radiographers (TR) are responsible for managing patient comfort, yet there is little evidence to guide practice.

Satellite liver transplant centres significantly improve transplant assessment outcomes for patients with chronic liver disease but not hepatocellular carcinoma: a retrospective cohort study.

Introduction: Liver transplantation (LT) remains integral to the management of end-stage chronic liver disease (CLD). However, referral thresholds and assessment pathways remain poorly defined. Distance from LT centre has been demonstrated to impact negatively on patient outcomes resulting in the development of satellite LT centres (SLTCs).

Exploring pelvis and thigh movement and coordination patterns during walking in patients after total hip arthroplasty.

Background: Patients after total hip arthroplasty (THA) have altered hip kinematics compared to healthy controls, specifically hip extension and range of motion are lower. Exploring pelvis-thigh coordination patterns and coordination variability may help to elucidate why differences in hip kinematics are evident in patients following THA.

Research Question: Do sagittal plane hip, pelvis and thigh kinematics, and pelvis-thigh movement coordination and coordination variability differ between patients following THA and healthy controls during walking?

Methods: Sagittal plane hip, pelvis and thigh kinematics were collected using a three-dimensional motion capture system while 10 patients who had undergone THA and 10 controls walked at a self-selected pace.

Patient and therapeutic radiographer experiences of comfort during the radiotherapy pathway: A qualitative study.

Introduction: There is little research regarding the experiences of patient comfort and how it is best managed in radiotherapy. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of patient and therapeutic radiographer views of comfort during radiotherapy.

Methods: This qualitative study involved semi-structured interviews, with cancer patients (n = 25) and therapeutic radiographers (n = 25), conducted between January-July 2019.

The-state-of-the-art of soft robotics to assist mobility: a review of physiotherapist and patient identified limitations of current lower-limb exoskeletons and the potential soft-robotic solutions.

Background: Soft, wearable, powered exoskeletons are novel devices that may assist rehabilitation, allowing users to walk further or carry out activities of daily living. However, soft robotic exoskeletons, and the more commonly used rigid exoskeletons, are not widely adopted clinically. The available evidence highlights a disconnect between the needs of exoskeleton users and the engineers designing devices.

Evaluation of bioelectrical impedance analysis in measuring body fat in 6-to-12-year-old boys compared with air displacement plethysmography.

Air displacement plethysmography (ADP) has been considered as the 'standard' method to determine body fat in children due to superior validity and reliability compared with bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA). However, ADP and BIA are often used interchangeably despite few studies comparing measures of percentage body fat by ADP (%FM) with BIA (%FM) in children with and without obesity. The objective of this study was to measure concurrent validity and reliability of %FM and %FM in 6-to-12-year-old boys with and without obesity.

The Liverpool alcohol-related liver disease algorithm identifies twice as many emergency admissions compared to standard methods when applied to Hospital Episode Statistics for England.

Background: Emergency admissions in England for alcohol-related liver disease (ArLD) have increased steadily for decades. Statistics based on administrative data typically focus on the ArLD-specific code as the primary diagnosis and are therefore at risk of excluding ArLD admissions defined by other coding combinations.

Aim: To deploy the Liverpool ArLD Algorithm (LAA), which accounts for alternative coding patterns (e.

User perspectives on the future of mobility assistive devices: Understanding users' assistive device experiences and needs.

Introduction: Current assistive devices are inadequate in addressing the needs of some people living with impaired mobility. This study explored the experiences of living with impaired mobility in relation to how wearable assistive adaptive and rehabilitative technologies may improve their quality of life.

Methods: A cross-case study approach was adopted; the case being defined as the experience of impaired mobility.

A UK survey on variation in the practice of management of choledocholithiasis and laparoscopic common bile duct exploration (ALiCE Survey).

Background: The practice of managing suspected/confirmed common bile duct stones (CBDS) can vary significantly in the UK. We aimed to assess this variability in practice and challenges to form a basis for future consensus.

Methods: An electronic survey containing 40 questions on various aspects of management of CBDS was sent to surgeons who perform cholecystectomies via five surgical associations.

Trans-ancestral fine-mapping of MHC reveals key amino acids associated with spontaneous clearance of hepatitis C in HLA-DQβ1.

Spontaneous clearance of acute hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is associated with single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on the MHC class II. We fine-mapped the MHC region in European (n = 1,600; 594 HCV clearance/1,006 HCV persistence) and African (n = 1,869; 340 HCV clearance/1,529 HCV persistence) ancestry individuals and evaluated HCV peptide binding affinity of classical alleles. In both populations, HLA-DQβ1Leu26 (p value = 1.

Mapping of population disparities in the cholangiocarcinoma urinary metabolome.

Phenotypic diversity in urinary metabolomes of different geographical populations has been recognized recently. In this study, urinary metabolic signatures from Western (United Kingdom) and South-East Asian (Thai) cholangiocarcinoma patients were characterized to understand spectral variability due to host carcinogenic processes and/or exogenous differences (nutritional, environmental and pharmaceutical). Urinary liquid chromatography mass spectroscopy (LC-MS) spectral profiles from Thai (healthy = 20 and cholangiocarcinoma = 14) and UK cohorts (healthy = 22 and cholangiocarcinoma = 10) were obtained and modelled using chemometric data analysis.

Do patients with well-functioning total hip arthroplasty achieve typical sagittal plane hip kinematics? A proof of concept study.

Background: Total hip arthroplasty (THA) patients have been shown to not achieve normal sagittal plane hip kinematics. However, previous studies have only conducted group level analysis and as such lack the sensitivity to highlight whether individual patients do achieve normal hip kinematics. As such this study looked to determine whether some patients with well-functioning THA achieve typical sagittal plane hip kinematics.

'Somebody stuck me in a bag of sand': Lived experiences of the altered and uncomfortable body after stroke.

Objective: This study explored stroke survivors' experiences of altered body perception, whether these perceptions cause discomfort, and the need for clinical interventions to improve comfort.

Design: A qualitative phenomenological study.

Setting: Participants' homes.

Real-World Outcomes of Direct-Acting Antiviral Treatment and Retreatment in United Kingdom-Based Patients Infected With Hepatitis C Virus Genotypes/Subtypes Endemic in Africa.

Background: Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection affects 71 million individuals, mostly residing in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) give high rates of sustained virological response (SVR) in high-income countries where a restricted range of HCV genotypes/subtypes circulate.

Methods: We studied United Kingdom-resident patients born in Africa to examine DAA effectiveness in LMICs where there is far greater breadth of HCV genotypes/subtypes.

Management of hemiplegic shoulder pain: A UK-wide online survey of physiotherapy and occupational therapy practice.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore, via an online survey, how therapists assess, diagnose and manage hemiplegic shoulder pain (HSP) in the United Kingdom. The objectives were to explore (1) how therapists assessed HSP, (2) what the aims of therapy were, (3) what interventions therapists used, (4) what outcome measures therapists used, (5) what training of HSP therapists had, and (6) what barriers therapists experienced in the management of HSP.

Methods: An online survey was distributed to physiotherapists (PTs) and occupational therapists (OTs) working in stroke rehabilitation via professional bodies' interest groups.

A Multiancestry Sex-Stratified Genome-Wide Association Study of Spontaneous Clearance of Hepatitis C Virus.

Background: Spontaneous clearance of acute hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is more common in women than in men, independent of known risk factors.

Methods: To identify sex-specific genetic loci, we studied 4423 HCV-infected individuals (2903 male, 1520 female) of European, African, and Hispanic ancestry. We performed autosomal, and X chromosome sex-stratified and combined association analyses in each ancestry group.

Multi-ancestry fine mapping of interferon lambda and the outcome of acute hepatitis C virus infection.

Clearance of acute infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) is associated with the chr19q13.13 region containing the rs368234815 (TT/ΔG) polymorphism. We fine-mapped this region to detect possible causal variants that may contribute to HCV clearance.

The effects of joint hypermobility syndrome on the kinematics and kinetics of the vertical jump test.

Purpose: Biomechanical impairments are not apparent during walking in people with Joint Hypermobility Syndrome (JHS). This research explored biomechanical alterations during a higher intensity task, vertical jumping.

Materials And Methods: This cross-sectional study compared a JHS group (n = 29) to a healthy control group (n = 30).