Publications by authors named "Freeman P"
'It's about collaboration': a whole-systems approach to understanding and promoting movement in Suffolk.
Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act
January 2025
Background: Population-levels of physical activity have remained stagnant for years. Previous approaches to modify behaviour have broadly neglected the importance of whole-systems approaches. Our research aimed to (i) understand, (ii) map, (iii) identify the leverage points, and (iv) develop solutions surrounding participation in physical activity across an English rural county.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Bacteraemia and infective endocarditis (IE) are rare but severe complications of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). Limited data exist on the incidence and microbiological profile of early bacteraemia in this population. This study aimed to evaluate the 6-month incidence of bacteraemia, IE and associated mortality following TAVI.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: This study uses the Exploration, Preparation, Implementation, and Sustainment (EPIS) model to retrospectively describe the mail-based overdose education and naloxone distribution (OEND) program developed in collaboration with the Kentucky Department of Corrections (DOC) for use in the HEALing Communities Study in Kentucky (HCS-KY) and details the reach of this innovative delivery model.
Methods: HCS-KY is a community-engaged cluster-randomized trial assessing the effects of implementing evidence-based practices, including OEND, on overdose death reduction across 16 communities highly impacted by the opioid epidemic in Kentucky. The study launch coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Importance: Whether state implementation of medical and recreational cannabis laws is associated with increased cannabis use disorder (CUD) and/or cannabis poisoning among adults is not evident.
Objective: To examine state-level medical and recreational cannabis laws' associations with CUD and cannabis poisoning, overall and by sex and age subgroups.
Design, Setting, And Participants: In this longitudinal cohort study, state-level CUD and cannabis poisoning diagnoses from January 2011 to December 2021 were examined across all 50 US states and the District of Columbia before and after the implementation of medical and recreational cannabis laws (MCLs and RCLs, respectively) using a staggered adoption difference-in-differences approach.
Background: As efforts to increase buprenorphine prescribing continue to intensify, pharmacy dispensing plays an important role in access to essential medications for opioid use disorder. Existing survey research suggests stigma and regulatory concerns are barriers to pharmacists dispensing buprenorphine, but facilitators are less clear, as are in-depth perceptions of pharmacists regarding buprenorphine.
Objective: To assess barriers and facilitators to buprenorphine dispensing in Appalachian Kentucky using a series of focus groups with pharmacy employees.
Background: Availability of medication disposal receptacles is critical to curbing nonmedical opioid use and diversion; however, availability in community pharmacies is sparse. The objective of this study was to describe implementation of the community pharmacy medication disposal program offered by the HEALing Communities Study in Kentucky (HCS-KY) using the EPIS (Exploration, Preparation, Implementation, and Sustainment) framework.
Methods: Sixteen counties participated in the HCS-KY from 1/1/2020-12/31/2023.
Article Synopsis
- Male African elephants have intricate social networks, and this study analyzed the consistency of their individual personalities across various situations.
- By observing 34 male elephants over five years at a waterhole, researchers identified five behaviors (like aggression and affiliation) that were stable at the individual level and influenced by social contexts, particularly the presence of younger and dominant males.
- The study concluded that younger males tend to show more similar personalities compared to older males, suggesting that while male elephants have distinct character traits, these traits can adapt based on their social surroundings.
Article Synopsis
- The text addresses a correction made to a previously published article, identified by its DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0276983.
- The correction may involve updates or clarifications to the content, data, or conclusions presented in the original study.
- Such corrections are important in academic publishing to ensure that the information is accurate and reliable for readers and researchers.
In-stent restenosis (ISR) still occurs after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Few studies have compared the outcomes of PCI for de novo stenosis with those of PCI for ISR, and the results are conflicting. The present study aimed to conduct this comparison.
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- The GA4GH Phenopacket Schema, released in 2022 and approved as a standard by ISO, allows the sharing of clinical and genomic data, including phenotypic descriptions and genetic information, to aid in genomic diagnostics.
- Phenopacket Store Version 0.1.19 offers a collection of 6668 phenopackets linked to various diseases and genes, making it a crucial resource for testing algorithms and software in genomic research.
- This collection represents the first extensive case-level, standardized phenotypic information sourced from medical literature, supporting advancements in diagnostic genomics and machine learning applications.
Article Synopsis
- The Communities That HEAL (CTH) intervention aimed to boost naloxone distribution in communities severely affected by opioid overdoses compared to standard care.
- A study involving 67 communities in Kentucky, Massachusetts, New York, and Ohio revealed that naloxone distribution was significantly higher (79% more) in the CTH intervention group than in the usual care group over a year of monitoring.
- The findings suggest that the CTH intervention effectively increased naloxone distribution, supporting its role in reducing opioid-related overdose deaths.
The effect of midline shift on survival time in dogs with structural brain disease diagnosed on MRI.
Vet Radiol Ultrasound
January 2025
Article Synopsis
- * Out of the dogs, 52% had a midline shift, which corresponded to a significantly shorter median survival of 34.5 days compared to 241 days for those without a shift.
- * The results suggest that midline shift serves as a negative prognostic factor in diagnostic imaging for dogs, impacting outcomes regardless of the underlying cause of brain disease.
Background And Objective: Traumatic acute subdural hematoma (ASDH) is a medical emergency that requires prompt neurosurgical intervention. Urgent surgical evacuation may be performed with craniotomy (CO) and decompressive craniectomy (DC). However, a meta-analysis evaluating confounders, pooled functional outcomes, and mortality analyses at different time points has not been performed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntervertebral disc degeneration in dogs occurs in an accelerated way and involves calcification, which is associated with disc herniation or extrusion. The degenerative process is complex and involves the transformation of collagen fibres, loss of proteoglycans and notochord cells and a reduction in water content; however, how these processes are linked to future disc extrusion remains unknown. We have employed techniques including Fourier Transform Infra-red Spectroscopy (FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Uniaxial Compression Loading and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) in an attempt to gain a greater understanding of the degenerative process and its consequences on the physical properties of the disc.
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- Global demand for lithium, essential for lithium-ion batteries, is surging and will likely grow as the shift from fossil fuels continues.
- High lithium concentrations have been found in brines in Arkansas's Smackover Formation, prompting the use of machine learning to create predictive maps of lithium concentrations.
- Estimates suggest the Smackover Formation contains 5.1 to 19 million tons of lithium, potentially surpassing current US lithium resource estimates, with significant amounts extracted as waste from other industries in 2022.
Article Synopsis
- Diabetes mellitus increases the risk of target lesion failure (TLF) after coronary interventions, prompting a study on 5-year outcomes of biodegradable polymer stents in diabetic patients.
- The SORT OUT VII trial compared the effectiveness of two different stents (O-SES and N-BES) in over 2,500 patients, focusing on TLF and other heart-related issues over five years.
- Results showed that diabetic patients had higher TLF and patient-related complications compared to non-diabetics, but no significant differences in TLF rates between the two stent types among diabetic patients.
Mediastinal mayhem: the challenges of incidental thoracic arteriovenous malformations-a case report.
Eur Heart J Case Rep
September 2024
Background: Arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) within the mediastinum are rare vascular anomalies. With the increasing number of coronary angiographies being performed, the number of incidentally found cases is rising. This presents challenges in terms of determining the appropriate treatment strategy.
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- * In a trial with 455 patients, those who received PCI had a lower rate of major adverse cardiac events (26%) compared to those with conservative treatment (36%) at a two-year follow-up.
- * However, the PCI group experienced a higher rate of bleeding events (28% vs. 20%) and had some minor procedure-related complications, indicating that while PCI may reduce cardiac risks, it also carries potential safety concerns.
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a highly lethal malignancy with an urgent unmet clinical need for new therapies. Using a combination of assays and preclinical models we demonstrate that therapeutic inhibition of the IGF signalling axis promotes the accumulation of CD8 cytotoxic T cells within the tumour microenvironment of PDAC tumours. Mechanistically, we show that IGF blockade promotes macrophage and fibroblast production of the chemokines CXCL9 and CXCL10 to facilitate CD8 T cell recruitment and trafficking towards the PDAC tumour.
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- A study on nonambulatory dogs with acute thoracolumbar disk extrusion indicates that a significant percentage (96%) of deep pain-positive dogs recover ambulation after conservative treatment within 12 weeks.
- The study involved 72 client-owned dogs, where a mix of MRIs and owner recommendations was implemented for conservative management.
- Results show that recovery of ambulation was achieved regardless of changes in spinal cord compression, stressing the effectiveness of conservative management in certain cases.
Background: Approximately 89% of the US population lives within five miles of a community pharmacy, which provides a network of geographically distributed recruitment nodes for testing and surveillance of infection and disease.
Objectives: Establish feasibility of Pharmacy-based Research Opportunities To Enhance Community Testing and Surveillance in the context of SARS-CoV-2 infection in a community pharmacy setting with University of Kentucky serving as the coordinating center and research hub for sample analysis.
Methods: Two community pharmacies in Kentucky served as community-based recruitment sites to assess SARS-CoV-2 exposure through longitudinal (5 visits over 56 days) collection of nasal swabs and blood samples from subjects.
Background: People incarcerated in jails are highly impacted by the opioid epidemic, and overdose education and naloxone distribution (OEND) is an effective strategy to reduce opioid overdose deaths. This study examines barriers and facilitators of fast-track OEND implementation within the jails in the Wave 1 Kentucky counties of the HEALing Communities Study during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods: Meeting minutes with jail stakeholders were qualitatively coded using the Practical, Robust Implementation and Sustainability Model (PRISM) as the coding framework.
Community-Based Cluster-Randomized Trial to Reduce Opioid Overdose Deaths.
N Engl J Med
September 2024
Article Synopsis
- The study examines a community-based intervention aimed at reducing opioid-related overdose deaths by increasing the adoption of evidence-based practices including overdose education and naloxone distribution, medication treatment for opioid use disorder, and prescription safety.
- In a cluster-randomized trial, 67 communities across Kentucky, Massachusetts, New York, and Ohio were assigned to either receive the intervention or serve as a control group during a period marked by the COVID-19 pandemic and an increase in fentanyl overdoses.
- Results showed no significant difference in opioid-related overdose death rates between the intervention and control groups, with both averaging similar rates, indicating that the community-engaged strategies did not have a measurable impact during the study period.