Publications by authors named "Knowles V"

The liver transplant assessment process involves a complex set of tests and clinical reviews to determine suitability for liver transplantation. We had an assessment process involving a 3-day inpatient stay and often experienced difficulties admitting patients to the prebooked bed due to a lack of inpatient bed availability.We aimed to change the process from a 3-day and 2-night inpatient stay to a 1-day day-case stay to reduce the demand for inpatient beds.

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Aim: To investigate the impact of tinnitus on professional musicians in the UK.

Background: Tinnitus is the experience of sound when an external source is absent, primarily associated with the ageing process, hearing loss, and noise exposure. Amongst populations exposed to industrial noise, noise exposure and noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) have been found to be the factors most associated with tinnitus.

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Bronchiectasis is a long-term respiratory disease in which there is permanent bronchial dilatation, and it is associated with recurrent cough, sputum production and respiratory tract infections. The incidence and prevalence of bronchiectasis is rising, but it can be challenging to identify and manage this disease. The British Thoracic Society published its latest guideline for bronchiectasis in adults in 2019.

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The British Thoracic Society (BTS) Guidelines for Bronchiectasis in adults were published in January 2019, and comprise recommendations for treatment from primary to tertiary care. Here, we outline the practical implications of these guidelines for primary care practitioners. A diagnosis of bronchiectasis should be considered when a patient presents with a recurrent or persistent (>8 weeks) productive cough.

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Objectives: To determine the awareness of HbA1c values and correlate this with educational levels, dietary intake and physical activity in type II diabetic population of Trinidad.

Methods: Total of 222 type II diabetic subjects were assessed via questionnaire evaluating their demographics, type and duration of diabetes, type and frequency of glucose testing, dietary intake and physical activity. HbA1c data was coded as patients who were aware versus patients who were not aware.

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Introduction: The purpose of the quality standards document is to provide healthcare professionals, commissioners, service providers and patients with a guide to standards of care that should be met for home oxygen provision in the UK, together with measurable markers of good practice. Quality statements are based on the British Thoracic Society (BTS) Guideline for Home Oxygen Use in Adults.

Methods: Development of BTS Quality Standards follows the BTS process of quality standard production based on the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence process manual for the development of quality standards.

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The ability to provide oxygen in a patient's home can offer enormous benefits, including improvements in life expectancy when given in the appropriate setting. Confusingly, however, home oxygen is available in many forms, including long-term oxygen therapy (LTOT), ambulatory oxygen therapy (AOT), palliative oxygen therapy (POT) and short-burst oxygen therapy (SBOT)-each with varying degrees of supporting evidence. The British Thoracic Society (BTS) has recently published new guidance on home oxygen therapy, after collating the available evidence.

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The British Thoracic Society (BTS) Home Oxygen Guideline provides detailed evidence-based guidance for the use of home oxygen for patients out of hospital. Although the majority of evidence comes from the use of oxygen in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, the scope of the guidance includes patients with a variety of long-term respiratory illnesses and other groups in whom oxygen is currently ordered, such as those with cardiac failure, cancer and end-stage cardiorespiratory disease, terminal illness or cluster headache. It explores the evidence base for the use of different modalities of oxygen therapy and patient-related outcomes such as mortality, symptoms and quality of life.

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Plant purple acid phosphatases (PAPs) belong to a relatively large gene family whose individual functions are poorly understood. Three PAP isozymes that are up-regulated in the cell walls of phosphate (Pi)-starved (-Pi) Arabidopsis thaliana suspension cells were purified and identified by MS as AtPAP12 (At2g27190), AtPAP25 (At4g36350) and AtPAP26 (At5g34850). AtPAP12 and AtPAP26 were previously isolated from the culture medium of -Pi cell cultures, and shown to be secreted by roots of Arabidopsis seedlings to facilitate Pi scavenging from soil-localized organophosphates.

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The Bahamian Ministry of Education has elected to implement at a national level in all Bahamian government grade six classes an evidence-based HIV prevention intervention [Focus on Youth in the Caribbean (FOYC)]. This study explores fidelity of implementation of the intervention, factors that may influence implementation fidelity, and the impact of variations in the implementation fidelity on student outcomes. Data were collected in the first wave of national implementation in 2011, involving 35 government primary schools and 110 teachers and 2,811 students.

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Limited data are available as to what happens in institutions involved in behavioral intervention trials after the trial has ended. Specifically, do the trainers continue to administer the behavioral intervention that had been the focus of the trial? To address this question, we examined data in grade six schools before a year-long behavioral intervention had been delivered in some schools (and a year-long control condition in others) and data obtained again 6 and 7 years later in the same two sets of schools. Data were derived from the baseline surveys of two interventions: (1) national implementation of the evidence-based Focus on Youth in the Caribbean (FOYC) intervention in 2011; and (2) the randomized, controlled trial of the FOYC intervention in 2004/2005.

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Using data from the preparatory phase prior to national implementation of an effective HIV prevention program (Focus on Youth in the Caribbean; FOYC) in all Bahamian government sixth-grade classes, we describe (1) actual FOYC implementation, (2) factors that influenced implementation, and (3) the relationship of implementation with intervention outcome. Six elementary schools (with 17 grade six classrooms) were selected to participate in the preparatory phase. The 17 teachers were invited to attend a training workshop, coordinate administration of questionnaires to the students, teach the 10 sessions of FOYC and complete self-assessment checklists.

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A wide range of behavioral prevention interventions have been demonstrated through longitudinal, randomized controlled trials to reduce sexual risk behaviors. Many of these interventions have been made available at little cost for implementation on a public health scale. However, efforts to utilize such programs typically have been met with a range of problems to be addressed, leading to the recognition that new processes must be identified and integrated into the emerging field of implementation science.

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Non-cardiac chest pain (NCCP) is a common and distressing condition. Prior studies suggest that psychotropic medication or pain coping skills training (CST) may benefit NCCP patients. To our knowledge, no clinical trials have examined the separate and combined effects of CST and psychotropic medication in the management of NCCP.

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Context: Lung cancer is one of the most common cancers in the United States and is associated with high levels of symptoms, including pain, fatigue, shortness of breath, and psychological distress. Caregivers and patients are adversely affected. However, previous studies of coping skills training (CST) interventions have not been tested in patients with lung cancer nor have systematically included caregivers.

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Objective: To examine the contributions of chest pain, anxiety, and pain catastrophizing to disability in 97 patients with noncardiac chest pain (NCCP) and to test whether chest pain and anxiety were related indirectly to greater disability via pain catastrophizing.

Methods: Participants completed daily diaries measuring chest pain for 7 days before completing measures of pain catastrophizing, trait anxiety, and disability. Linear path model analyses examined the contributions of chest pain, trait anxiety, and catastrophizing to physical disability, psychosocial disability, and disability in work, home, and recreational activities.

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PEPC [PEP(phosphoenolpyruvate) carboxylase] is a tightly controlled cytosolic enzyme situated at a major branchpoint in plant metabolism. Accumulating evidence indicates important functions for PEPC and PPCK (PEPC kinase) in plant acclimation to nutritional P(i) deprivation. However, little is known about the genetic origin or phosphorylation status of native PEPCs from -P(i) (P(i)-deficient) plants.

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A vacuolar acid phosphatase (APase) that accumulates during phosphate (Pi) starvation of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) suspension cells was purified to homogeneity. The final preparation is a purple APase (PAP), as it exhibited a pink color in solution (A(max) = 520 nm). It exists as a 100-kD homodimer composed of 55-kD glycosylated subunits that cross-reacted with an anti-(tomato intracellular PAP)-IgG.

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This preliminary study tested the efficacy of a partner-guided cancer pain management protocol for patients who are at the end of life. Seventy-eight advanced cancer patients meeting criteria for hospice eligibility and their partners were randomly assigned to a partner-guided pain management training intervention, or usual care control condition. The partner-guided pain management training protocol was a three-session intervention conducted in patients' homes that integrated educational information about cancer pain with systematic training of patients and partners in cognitive and behavioral pain coping skills.

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Phosphite (H(2)PO(3)(-), Phi) prevents the acclimation of plants and yeast to orthophosphate (Pi, HPO(4)(2-)) deprivation by specifically obstructing the derepression of genes encoding proteins characteristic of their Pi-starvation response. In this study, we report that prolonged (i.e.

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Activities of glucokinase, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase, phosphoglucose isomerase, phosphofructokinase (PFK), enolase, pyruvate kinase (PK) and phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) carboxylase were determined in extracts of photoautotrophic, mixotrophic, and heterotrophic cultures of Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. Annotated genomes of Synechocystis sp.

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The recent resurgence of tuberculosis worldwide means it is vital for health professionals to be aware of the risks and able to recognise the symptoms.

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