Publications by authors named "Howes R"

Background: Hidradenitis suppurativa is a chronic inflammatory skin disease characterised by recurrent inflammatory lesions and skin tunnels in flexural sites such as the axilla. Deroofing of skin tunnels and laser treatment are standard hidradenitis suppurativa interventions in some countries but not yet introduced in the United Kingdom.

Objective: To understand current hidradenitis suppurativa management pathways and what influences treatment choices to inform the design of future randomised controlled trials.

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Upper limb prosthetics have a challenging task. A natural upper limb combines strength, coordination and dexterity to accomplish daily activities such as eating, writing, working and social interaction. Artificially replicating these functions requires a prosthetic with composite, synchronous motor function while maintaining sensory feedback and skeletal stability.

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Background: Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic, painful disease affecting flexures and other skin regions, producing nodules, abscesses and skin tunnels. Laser treatment targeting hair follicles and deroofing of skin tunnels are standard HS interventions in some countries but are rarely offered in the UK.

Objectives: To describe current UK HS management pathways and influencing factors to inform the design of future randomized controlled trials (RCTs).

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  • * A systematic review combined individual data from 4320 participants across 17 studies globally to analyze differences in G6PD activity based on specific genetic mutations.
  • * The results showed significant variations in G6PD activity among different mutations, with most individuals harboring certain mutations displaying low activity levels, impacting their risk for drug-related hemolysis.
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A series of experiments investigated genetically diverse strains of Beauveria bassiana (Bb) isolated from coffee berry borer (CBB). Objectives included assessment of their biocontrol potential, particularly in comparison to Bb commercial strain GHA currently applied for CBB control, and identification of various attributes potentially contributing to their comparatively greater epizootic potential in CBB populations. Bioassays identified one strain from Hawai'i Island and one from Puerto Rico with virulence greater than GHA based on equal weights of unformulated conidial powder (CP); however, the greater potency of the CPs was ultimately explained by their 2.

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Trigger finger is a common condition affecting the hand. Therapeutic variability surrounds the management of trigger finger, especially in the mild cases. The aim of this study was to survey secondary care surgeons to describe the current management of trigger fingers.

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Maps of disease burden are a core tool needed for the control and elimination of malaria. Reliable routine surveillance data of malaria incidence, typically aggregated to administrative units, is becoming more widely available. Disaggregation regression is an important model framework for estimating high resolution risk maps from aggregated data.

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Background: Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic, painful, inflammatory skin disease with estimates of prevalence in the European population of 1%-2%. Despite being a relatively common condition, the evidence base for management of HS is limited. European and North American management guidelines rely on consensus for many aspects of treatment and within the UK variations in management of HS have been identified.

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A common effort for both military and civil healthcare is to achieve knowledge-based health care in cold weather injuries and fatal accidents in harsh arctic environment. The in November 2021, having more than 300 participants from 20 countries, was addressing the prevention and treatment of injuries and trauma care in cold weather conditions and the challenges for military prehospital casualty care. The intention of the programme was to stimulate further research and systematic knowledge-based clinical work.

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  • * The Cambridge COVID-19 Testing Centre (CCTC) was established in April 2020 through partnerships with AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, and the University of Cambridge, aiming for a testing capacity of 22,000 tests per day.
  • * The CCTC enhanced laboratory processes using internal metrics and new technologies, such as Heat Inactivation of samples and a Direct to PCR protocol, which improved efficiency and eliminated the RNA extraction step.
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We report the development of a large scale process for heat inactivation of clinical COVID-19 samples prior to laboratory processing for detection of SARS-CoV-2 by RT-qPCR. With more than 266 million confirmed cases, over 5.26 million deaths already recorded at the time of writing, COVID-19 continues to spread in many parts of the world.

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Background: The introduction of novel short course treatment regimens for the radical cure of Plasmodium vivax requires reliable point-of-care diagnosis that can identify glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficient individuals. While deficient males can be identified using a qualitative diagnostic test, the genetic make-up of females requires a quantitative measurement. SD Biosensor (Republic of Korea) has developed a handheld quantitative G6PD diagnostic (STANDARD G6PD test), that has approximately 90% accuracy in field studies for identifying individuals with intermediate or severe deficiency.

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  • This study focuses on understanding how SARS-CoV-2 spreads in higher education environments, specifically at the University of Cambridge, to help protect students and vulnerable populations.
  • Researchers sequenced 482 virus samples from the university and compared them with 972 samples from the local community, finding that most cases were linked to a specific social gathering rather than multiple virus strains.
  • The study revealed that while transmission occurred significantly within student accommodations and classes, targeted infection control measures and a national lockdown were effective in managing the spread.
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Background: The evidence-base underpinning treatment efficacy and effectiveness for hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is limited, as has been highlighted in the wide-ranging research priorities established by a James Lind Alliance priority-setting partnership (PSP). Understanding the landscape of surgical practice is a key step towards tackling undesired variation in care and resolving treatment uncertainties. This survey of current surgical practice aimed to describe care pathways involving surgeons for the management of HS and surgical approaches to management.

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Background: Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease that causes painful discharging nodules and skin tunnels. HS has associations with several systemic diseases, including cardiovascular disease (CVD), anxiety, and depression. High levels of chronic morbidity suggest an important role for primary care.

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  • In 2017, approximately 14 million cases of Plasmodium vivax malaria were reported globally, primarily affecting regions in Asia, Central and South America, and the Horn of Africa, highlighting the need for effective treatment options to eliminate both the parasite's blood and liver stages for radical cure.
  • New treatment methods and point-of-care diagnostics are now available to address vivax malaria and can ensure safe and effective radical cures, especially after screening for glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency.
  • The economic analysis estimated a global annual cost of US$359 million for vivax malaria, with the implementation of G6PD screening and supervised treatment potentially preventing 6.1
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Background: The radical cure of Plasmodium vivax requires treatment with an 8-aminoquinoline drug, such as primaquine and tafenoquine, to eradicate liver hypnozoite stages, which can reactivate to cause relapsing infections. Safe treatment regimens require prior screening of patients for glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency to avoid potential life-threatening drug induced haemolysis. Testing is rarely available in malaria endemic countries, but will be needed to support routine use of radical cure.

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is one of the five human malaria parasite species, which has a wide geographical distribution and can cause severe disease and fatal outcomes. It has the ability to relapse from dormant liver stages (hypnozoites), weeks to months after clearance of the acute blood-stage infection. An 8-aminoquinoline drug primaquine (PQ) can clear the hypnozoites, and thus can be used as an anti-relapse therapeutic agent.

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The BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine (Pfizer-BioNTech) is being utilised internationally for mass COVID-19 vaccination. Evidence of single-dose protection against symptomatic disease has encouraged some countries to opt for delayed booster doses of BNT162b2, but the effect of this strategy on rates of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection remains unknown. We previously demonstrated frequent pauci- and asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection amongst healthcare workers (HCWs) during the UK's first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, using a comprehensive PCR-based HCW screening programme (Rivett et al.

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Malaria transmission in Madagascar is highly heterogeneous, exhibiting spatial, seasonal and long-term trends. Previous efforts to map malaria risk in Madagascar used prevalence data from Malaria Indicator Surveys. These cross-sectional surveys, conducted during the high transmission season most recently in 2013 and 2016, provide nationally representative prevalence data but cover relatively short time frames.

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A vascular access device is defined as a catheter inserted into veins allowing fluids and medicines to be delivered intravenously. The need for such devices in acutely unwell patients has remained steady throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. We describe here our experience of up-skilling the resident plastic surgery and maxillofacial surgical registrars to provide a vascular access service to reduce the workload on our intensive care colleagues.

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  • - The coffee berry borer (CBB) is a major pest affecting coffee globally, discovered in Hawai'i in 2010 and spreading to O'ahu and Maui by 2014 and 2016.
  • - Researchers conducted a survey of Beauveria fungi associated with the CBB, collecting over 1800 fungal isolates from various coffee farms and unmanaged sites across Hawai'i and Puerto Rico to study their effectiveness against the pest.
  • - The study identified 16 different genetic variants (haplotypes) of Beauveria bassiana, with one specific haplotype (Bb1) dominant in high-elevation coffee farms that hadn't been treated with the commercial strain, indicating a complex genetic landscape among these fungi in Hawai
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