Publications by authors named "Fiona McGregor"

Article Synopsis
  • The study explores how patient and public involvement (PPI) can be improved in mesothelioma research, a rare cancer linked to asbestos with a generally poor prognosis.
  • An online survey of researchers indicated that while many see PPI as beneficial for funding and relevance, challenges include low participation rates and difficulties related to the disease's severity and recruitment timelines.
  • Interviews with patients highlighted motivations for involvement like altruism and a desire for hope, while also revealing a lack of initial understanding of PPI and barriers stemming from high symptom burdens.
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The aim of this study is to investigate the background and discharge outcomes of the forensic patient population rehabilitated through a low secure forensic psychiatric rehabilitation inpatient unit. Currently within Australia and internationally there is a scarcity of research completed within this setting. A quantitative methodology was selected coupled with descriptive statistics to investigate a total of 23 patients and analyse their demographics, historical information, length of stay and post-discharge outcomes including readmission and breach of forensic orders.

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The sexual health needs of young people experiencing homelessness in the UK have not been researched adequately. This study aimed to examine knowledge and attitudes around sexual health and contraceptive use amongst this vulnerable group to develop suitable models of care in the community. A qualitative ethnographic case-study following Burawoy's extended case method was used.

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Background: Combined oral contraception (COC, 'the pill') remains the most prescribed method of contraception in the UK. Although a variety of regimens for taking monophasic COC are held to be clinically safe, women are not routinely counselled about these choices and there is a lack of evidence on how to provide this information to women.

Aim: To assess the usefulness and feasibility of including tailored use of monophasic COC within routine COC counselling in a sexual and reproductive health (SRH) service using a structured format.

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Sexual health nurses working with teenagers from the black and minority ethnic community reflect on fieldwork undertaken for a Mary Seacole leadership award aimed at reducing inequalities.

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The small GTPase Rab25 has been functionally linked to tumour progression and aggressiveness in ovarian cancer and promotes invasion in three-dimensional environments. This type of migration has been shown to require the expression of the hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha (HIF-1α). In this report we demonstrate that Rab25 regulates HIF-1α protein expression in an oxygen independent manner in a panel of cancer cell lines.

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Background: Ovarian cancer is the most fatal of gynaecological malignancies, usually detected at a late stage with intraperitoneal dissemination. Appropriate preclinical models are needed that recapitulate both the histopathological and molecular features of human ovarian cancer for drug-efficacy analysis.

Methods: Longitudinal studies comparing cisplatin performance either alone or in a novel cisplatin-based delivery-system, cucurbit[7]uril-encapsulated cisplatin (cisplatin@CB[7]) were performed on subcutaneous (s.

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Article Synopsis
  • Congenital melanocytic nevus (CMN) syndrome is characterized by pigmented nevi and serious neurological issues, often linked to a mutation in the NRAS gene.
  • There is a correlation between Wnt signaling and NRAS activation in the development of CMN, with some evidence indicating a genetic predisposition for the condition.
  • A study using a mouse model showed that treatment with a MEK inhibitor after birth significantly reduced CMN syndrome symptoms, suggesting a potential therapeutic approach for affected individuals.
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The trefoil factor family (TFF) peptides are important in gastro-intestinal mucosal protection and repair. Their mechanism of action remains unclear and receptors are sought. We aimed to identify and characterise proteins binding to TFF2.

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Through previous large-scale gene expression profiling we identified a transcript that was abundant in normal stomach and down-regulated in gastric cancer. Genes expressed at similar levels included gastrin, MUC5 and pS2, which are important in gastric function. We aimed to characterise this candidate, gastrokine 1 (GKN1), at mRNA, DNA, protein and tissue levels.

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Our previous work showed that acquisition of immortality at the dysplasia stage of oral cancer progression was consistently associated with four changes: loss of retinoic acid receptor (RAR)-beta and p16INK4A expression, p53 mutations and activation of telomerase. One atypical dysplasia (D17) that underwent delayed senescence after an extended lifespan showed loss of RAR-beta and p16INK4A/p14ARF expression, but retained functional wild-type p53 and telomerase was not activated. We now demonstrate that retroviral delivery of hTERT results in telomere lengthening and immortalization of D17 without loss of functional wild-type p53 activity.

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This study has identified molecular changes characteristic of early oral cancer progression. We reported previously that acquisition of the immortal phenotype is an early event in oral cancer development (F. McGregor et al.

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Avance is a hydropolymer dressing that has a silver compound bonded into it. The silver acts as a bacterial shield to prevent bacterial invasion, and as a bacterial barrier to impede cross-infection. This article aims to give an overview of the use of silver in eradicating surface bacteria, and provides case study evidence of the use of Avance on the leg ulcers of two patients.

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