Publications by authors named "Parkes M"

Article Synopsis
  • Large-scale studies are essential to investigate the gut microbiota's complex relationships with health and disease, and tissue preservation methods need evaluation for feasibility in such research.
  • Biopsies from 20 adults with inflammatory bowel disease were preserved using three methods: flash freezing, nucleic acid preservative reagents, and formalin fixation with paraffin embedding (FFPE), with microbiota analyzed using sequencing.
  • Results showed that while preservative reagents can serve as viable alternatives to flash freezing, FFPE samples exhibited distinct community structures, highlighting the potential utility of historical samples despite differences in microbial profiles.
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Purpose: Accurate radiation therapy (RT) for lung cancer is challenging because of the respiratory motion of the tumor and surrounding organs at risk. Recently, non-invasive mechanical ventilation (NIMV) has been investigated as a novel respiratory motion management strategy. Using NIMV, respiratory motion can be minimized, while a larger lung volume yields less overall lung dose.

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Objective: To evaluate South Asian (SA) and White (WH) inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) phenotypes, and to explore treatment approach variations between these cohorts in the UK using the IBD BioResource database.

Design: Differences between WH and SA IBD patients were analysed using demographic, phenotypic and outcome data. Drug utilisation patterns and surgical outcomes were assessed in propensity score-matched (PSM) cohorts with multivariable logistic regression, Cox regression and Kaplan-Meier analysis.

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When a molecule loses two electrons, Coulomb repulsion makes the resulting doubly charged system likely to fragment into two singly charged ions. These monocations can be detected in a correlated fashion using multiplex time-of-flight spectroscopy. The island shapes in the ion-ion coincidence maps derived from such two-body dissociations contain detailed information on the physical processes underlying the fragmentation.

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The presence of two chlorine atoms in 1,2-dichloroethene allows for isomerization around the double bond. This isomerization can lead to rich photochemistry. We present a time-resolved pump-probe photoelectron spectroscopy measurement on both the - and - isomers of 1,2-dichloroethene.

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Objective: Pain in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is frequently neglected/overlooked, particularly in ulcerative colitis, and communication about pain can be suboptimal. The current study juxtaposes clinicians' conceptualisations of patients' pain with patient narratives. The aim was to inform the development of a pain reporting tool and provide guidance for better communication about IBD pain.

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Objective: To establish proof-of-concept for the dynamic prediction of adverse pregnancy outcome in women with a history of stillbirth or perinatal death, repeatedly throughout the pregnancy.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study of women in a subsequent pregnancy following previous perinatal loss, who received antenatal care at a tertiary hospital between January 2014 and December 2017, was used as the basis for exploratory prognostic model development. Models were developed to repeatedly predict a composite adverse outcome (stillbirth or neonatal death, 5-min Apgar score < 7, umbilical artery pH ≤ 7.

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Background: Management of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) relies on symptoms reported by patients during infrequent outpatient clinic visits. These reports are often incomplete and inaccurate due to poor recall, leading to suboptimal treatment decisions and outcomes. Asking people to track symptoms in-between visits and integrating the data into clinical pathways may improve this.

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Article Synopsis
  • Thiophene is studied as a key example of excited state photophysics relevant to organic electronics, utilizing multiphoton ionization photoelectron imaging.
  • The research investigates the transitions from the ground state to the first two excited singlet states by analyzing photoelectron spectra and angular distributions.
  • The study confirms the ionization energies: 8.8 eV (adiabatic) and 9.6 eV (vertical) for the ground state, and 3.7 eV (adiabatic) and 4.4 eV (vertical) for the first two excited states.
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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the ultraviolet absorption spectrum of thiophene using advanced quantum dynamics simulations integrated with a vibronic coupling model.
  • The results show strong agreement with experimental data, providing explanations for previously misunderstood spectral features through the interactions of vibrations and coupling between states.
  • Analysis reveals that population transfer between states occurs rapidly in less than 100 femtoseconds, while more complex reactions like ring-opening happen over longer timescales, offering a foundation for future research on thiophene's photo-excited dynamics.
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Background And Aims: Corticosteroids are widely used in managing inflammatory bowel disease [IBD]. While adverse events [AEs] of corticosteroids are well recognised, current understanding of corticosteroid-related AE burden in IBD remains incomplete.

Methods: AE reports for prednisone/prednisolone and budesonide were extracted from the Food and Drug Administration Adverse Event Reporting System [FAERS] and VigiBase databases.

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Article Synopsis
  • Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common digestive disorder that causes abdominal pain and bowel issues, and dietary changes, especially reducing FODMAPs, are essential for treatment.
  • A study involving 56 IBS patients revealed two microbial subtypes: IBS-P (which responded better to a low FODMAP diet) and IBS-H, with IBS-P showing higher levels of short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) before diet modification.
  • After four weeks on the low FODMAP diet, IBS-P patients had a significant decrease in SCFA levels and reported greater symptom improvement compared to IBS-H, suggesting that managing SCFAs through diet can enhance relief from IBS symptoms.
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Background: Patients (20%-50%) with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) experience chronic abdominal pain during remission. The clinical features of IBD patients with abdominal pain during remission remain poorly characterized. This cross-sectional pilot study aimed to assess patient recruitment, adherence, and feedback to optimize questionnaires for future use and to determine the clinical features that distinguish IBD patients in remission with and without abdominal pain.

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Thiopurines remain an important option in the treatment of IBD. However, the unpredictable and sometimes serious side effects and intolerance remain a major challenge. Pretreatment of extended genetic panel analysis, identification of novel variants, and monitoring of intermediate metabolites will help improve the overall outcome and reduce the toxicity.

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  • The TRANSLATE trial is a study comparing two ways to do a prostate biopsy to find out which one is better at detecting important prostate cancer.
  • Men aged 18 and older who need a biopsy are randomly assigned to either a transrectal or a local anaesthetic transperineal biopsy.
  • The study will keep track of various outcomes, like cancer detection rates and side effects, and aims to be transparent with its results and methods.
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  • Chemical reactions typically involve a transition state that represents a crucial molecular configuration during the transformation from reactants to products.
  • Roaming is a different concept in dissociation reactions, where the bond breaking leads to a loosely bound intermediate, allowing the molecular partners to move around each other rather than separating completely.
  • This study used advanced imaging techniques to measure the photoelectron spectrum of UV-excited acetaldehyde, revealing the key reactive structures, including those associated with the roaming intermediate, and providing insights into the timing and potential energy landscapes of this process.
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Tautomers are ubiquitous throughout chemistry and typically considered inseparable in solution. Yet (bio)chemical activity is highly tautomer-specific, with common examples being the amino and nucleic acids. While tautomers exist in an equilibrium in solution, in the cold environment of a molecular beam the barrier to tautomerization is typically much too high for interconversion, and tautomers can be considered separate species.

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Background: Addressing complex and interconnected ecological, social, and health issues necessitates upstream, solutions-oriented, and whole-systems thinking. Specifically, exploring what it means to live in reciprocity with the planet and all living systems, now and for generations to come, can have a crucial role in advancing planetary health.

Methods: In this presentation, we show findings from four gatherings that we co-designed and co-hosted to connect communities, lands, waters, climate, and health.

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Introduction: Characterised by chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) symptoms including diarrhoea, abdominal pain and fatigue can significantly impact patient's quality of life. Therapeutic developments in the last 20 years have revolutionised treatment. However, clinical trials and real-world data show primary non-response rates up to 40%.

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Background & Aims: The low-FODMAP diet (LFD) has become almost synonymous with IBS care, yet the challenges associated with this rigorous therapeutic approach are often underacknowledged. Despite positive outcomes in RCTs, comparator groups frequently exhibit substantial response rates, raising questions about the definition of 'response'. Whilst the assessment of response in drug trials has evolved to utilize the more stringent FDA/EMA primary clinical endpoints, trials of the LFD have not yet followed.

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Article Synopsis
  • NUC-3373 is an experimental drug designed to improve the treatment of advanced solid tumors by being a more effective alternative to 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), which has drawbacks like poor conversion to active form and high toxicity.
  • The drug was tested on patients with persistent tumors, administered through IV, and aimed to determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) and assess its effectiveness and safety.
  • Results showed NUC-3373 was generally well-tolerated, had a favorable pharmacokinetic profile, and provided stable disease responses in patients previously treated with traditional therapies, with the MTD established at 2500 mg/m weekly.
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