Publications by authors named "Parkes J"

We aimed to estimate the impact of poor mental health in early adolescence on subsequent poor mental health, depression, and violence victimisation in late adolescence and to determine whether young people living with disabilities experienced a stronger relationship between mental health and these outcomes. Data from two waves of a longitudinal cohort study of 2773 Ugandan adolescents were used to assess the impact of mental health difficulties in early adolescence (aged 11-14) on presence of subsequent mental health difficulties, depression and past year violence victimisation in later adolescence (aged 15-18). We used g-computation to examine how these outcomes changed dependent on levels of poor mental health in early adolescence and explored functional difficulties as an effect modifier.

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Background: The aim of the study was to investigate the development of evidence-based monitoring strategies in a population with progressive or recurrent disease. A simulation study of monitoring strategies using a new biomarker (ELF) for the detection of liver cirrhosis in people with known liver fibrosis was undertaken alongside a randomised controlled trial (ELUCIDATE).

Methods: Existing data and expert opinion were used to estimate the progression of disease and the performance of repeat testing with ELF.

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  • A modified e-Delphi study was conducted with Australian clinical experts to establish minimum and gold standard assessments for young-onset dementia (YOD), using 72 statements adapted from a previous international study.
  • Experts rated the statements on a scale of 1-7, with consensus determined by the percentage of respondents who found specific statements essential or important.
  • The study achieved full consensus on 13 statements (minimum standard) and high consensus on 37 statements (gold standard), highlighting the importance of family history and routine tests in diagnosing YOD, while noting differences from previous findings in the international study.
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  • Radiation treatment planning is complicated and can vary significantly between different planners, but knowledge-based planning (KBP) aims to streamline the process and produce high-quality plans regardless of the planner's skills.
  • The study involved creating and validating 10 automated KBP models for various treatment sites, which incorporated advanced planning scripts and optimization techniques to operate without human input.
  • The results showed that 88% of the automated plans were deemed "acceptable as is" by physicians, indicating that this approach could significantly improve the efficiency and consistency of radiation treatment planning.
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Background: Only recently have research and policy begun to shine a light on the magnifying effects of EWEs (Extreme Weather Events) on children's exposure to violence. However, the links between EWEs and VAC (Violence against Children) remain under-theorised, poorly understood and often unacknowledged in policy and practice.

Objective: Identify, synthesize and analyse available evidence on the central characteristics and factors influencing the relationship between VAC and EWEs.

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Evidence on post-diagnostic support for people with young onset dementia is scarce. Previous studies have employed a problem-focused approach; however, evidence on 'what works' in real-life practice is essential to develop recommendations for service design and delivery. This study aimed to provide insight into 'what works' from the perspectives of people with young onset dementia and their supporters.

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Introduction: Interventions related to the perpetration of Domestic Violence and Abuse (DVA) have gained traction over the past several years, in response to dissatisfaction by victims, an inadequate response from the criminal justice system, increased demand on police time and a lack of rehabilitative responses to the perpetration of domestic abuse. The CARA model is a conditional diversionary caution, offered by police for first time offenders of 'standard' or 'medium risk' domestic abuse, that engages perpetrators in awareness raising workshops and signposts them onto further services. Although quasi-experimental studies have indicated that CARA showed promise at reducing reoffending, the CARA model has yet to be evaluated nationally and there is no qualitative evidence related to understanding or learning about the lived experience of perpetrators and victims as they engage with the intervention.

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  • The study looked at what health professionals, patients, and the public think about having community pharmacists help find people with alcohol-related liver disease (ArLD).
  • Researchers talked to 26 people including patients, pharmacy staff, and doctors to understand their experiences and how pharmacists could help identify ArLD.
  • Everyone agreed that pharmacists could play a part in helping find at-risk people and connecting them to more medical support, but they also mentioned needing better training and teamwork for pharmacists to do this well.
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Background: Wilms tumour (WT) is one of the cancer types targeted by the Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer (GICC). The objective of this study was to describe the outcomes of Wilms Africa Phase II in sub-Saharan Africa.

Methods: Wilms Africa Phase II used a comprehensive WT treatment protocol in a multi-centre, prospective study conducted in eight hospitals in Ethiopia (2), Ghana (2), Malawi, Cameroon, Zimbabwe and Uganda.

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Purpose: Practical guidelines and tips for effective and robust radiation therapy treatment planning for patients with breast cancer are addressed for fixed-field intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) or volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) techniques. The concepts described here are general and valid on all treatment planning systems. However, some details shown here have been applied to the Varian platforms used at the authors' institutions.

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  • * This disruption leads to the production of faulty transcripts that are targeted for degradation, resulting in reduced UNC13A protein levels and impaired synaptic transmission.
  • * Using antisense oligonucleotides to specifically target the problematic splicing changes can restore UNC13A protein levels and improve synaptic function, suggesting a new potential treatment strategy for ALS and related disorders.
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Background: We sought to determine whether the Good School Toolkit-Primary violence prevention intervention was associated with reduced victimisation and perpetration of peer and intimate partner violence four years later, and if any associations were moderated by sex and early adolescent: family connectedness, socio-economic status, and experience of violence outside of school.

Methods: Drawing on schools involved in a randomised controlled trial of the intervention, we used a quasi-experimental design to compare violence outcomes between those who received the intervention during our trial (n = 1388), and those who did not receive the intervention during or after the trial (n = 522). Data were collected in 2014 (mean age 13.

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  • The study aimed to create a guideline for community pharmacies to effectively test for Hepatitis C virus (HCV) by generating a consensus statement through expert collaboration.
  • Utilizing a modified Delphi process, experts in HCV testing were recruited to participate in three rounds of feedback, which included thematic analysis and rating statements, ensuring diverse input and agreement on key points.
  • The final result was the I-COPTIC statement, a comprehensive blueprint that lays out a model for community pharmacy HCV testing services to aid in achieving HCV elimination.
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Background & Aims: The aim of this study was to determine whether liver fibrosis is associated with heart failure in a general population cohort, and if genetic polymorphisms (PNPLA3 rs738409; TM6SF2 rs58542926), linked to increased risk of liver fibrosis and decreased risk of coronary artery disease, modify this association.

Methods: Using UK Biobank data, we prospectively examined the relationship between noninvasive fibrosis markers (nonalcoholic fatty liver disease [NAFLD] fibrosis score [NFS], Fibrosis-4 [FIB-4] and aspartate transaminase [AST] to platelet ratio index [APRI]) and incident hospitalization/death from heart failure (n = 413,860). Cox-regression estimated hazard ratios (HRs) for incident heart failure.

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Background: Young adults who commit low-level offences commonly have a range of health and social needs and are significantly over-represented in the criminal justice system. These young adults may need to attend court and potentially receive penalties including imprisonment. Alternative routes exist, which can help address the underlying causes of offending.

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Purpose Of Review: Our review delves into the progress across urological malignancies and discusses ongoing challenges and future directions in antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) development, emphasising their transformative potential in cancer care.

Recent Findings: ADCs have advanced from hematologic to solid tumours, notably in breast cancer, and are now pivotal in metastatic urological cancers as both monotherapies and in combination regimens, underscored by the FDA's approval of enfortumab vedotin and sacituzumab govitecan for metastatic urothelial cancer. Progress in metastatic prostate cancer, particularly with ADCs targeting PSMA and STEAP1, is noteworthy, although renal cell cancer presents ongoing challenges.

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Introduction: Children living in rural, regional and remote locations experience challenges to receiving services for mental illness and challenging behaviours. Additionally, there is a lack of clarity about the workforce characteristics to address the needs of this population.

Objective: To scope the literature on the rural, regional and remote child mental health and behavioural workforce and identify barriers and enabling mechanisms to mental health service provision.

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Purpose: Increased automation has been identified as one approach to improving global cancer care. The Radiation Planning Assistant (RPA) is a web-based tool offering automated radiotherapy (RT) contouring and planning to low-resource clinics. In this study, the RPA workflow and clinical acceptability were assessed by physicians around the world.

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Using a feminist narrative approach, this article explores how unintended pregnancy can rupture young lives, and how young people respond to and navigate these ruptures. We analyse qualitative data from a longitudinal cohort study in Luwero, Uganda, focusing on narratives of a girl and a boy about their recent experiences of unintended and unwanted pregnancy during COVID-19 school closures. We argue that laws, policies and norms relating to education, sexual and reproductive health, and the family in Uganda position young people in complex and contradictory ways, that create the conditions for unintended pregnancies, and restrict the choices open to them.

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This Policy Review sourced opinions from experts in cancer care across low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) to build consensus around high-priority measures of care quality. A comprehensive list of quality indicators in medical, radiation, and surgical oncology was identified from systematic literature reviews. A modified Delphi study consisting of three 90-min workshops and two international electronic surveys integrating a global range of key clinical, policy, and research leaders was used to derive consensus on cancer quality indicators that would be both feasible to collect and were high priority for cancer care systems in LMICs.

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