Background: Restrictive practices (RPs) are defined by measures linked to physical and chemical restraints to reduce the movement or control behaviours during any emergency. Seclusion is an equal part of RPs intended to isolate and reduce the sensory stimulation to safeguard the patient and those within the vicinity. Using interventions by way of virtual reality (VR) could assist with reducing the need for RPs as it could help reduce anxiety or agitation by way of placing users into realistic and immersive environments.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Enhancing the quality of therapeutic engagement between nurse and service user is related to positive impact on care, safety, and recovery outcomes. Achieving improved therapeutic engagement remains challenging in the acute mental health inpatient setting, characterised by complex social processes and contextual features that constrain behaviour change. The Therapeutic Engagement Questionnaire is an evidence-based tool co-produced with service users and nurses to improve therapeutic engagement.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPlans are formulated and refined over the period leading to their execution, ensuring that the appropriate behavior is enacted at just the right time. While existing evidence suggests that memory circuits convey the passage of time through diverse neuronal responses, it remains unclear whether the neural circuits involved in planning behavior exhibit analogous temporal dynamics. Using publicly available data, we analyzed how activity in the frontal motor cortex evolves during motor planning.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Cancer and its treatment can have significant impacts on health status, quality of life and functioning of patients. Direct information from patients regarding these aspects can be collected via electronic platforms in the form of electronic Patient Reported Outcome Measures (ePROMs). Research has shown that the use of ePROMS in cancer care leads to improved communication, better symptom control, prolonged survival and a reduction in hospital admissions and emergency department attendance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIncreasing hatchling survival is an important element of conservation of the critically endangered hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata). Yet, there is little information regarding mortality-associated pathological states of hawksbill hatchlings. The aim of this study was to describe lesions affecting hawksbill hatchlings that died while under rehabilitative care.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA strong association exists between the quality of nurse-service user therapeutic relationship and care outcomes on acute mental health inpatient wards. Despite evidence that service users desire improved therapeutic engagement, and registered mental health nurses recognize the benefits of therapeutic relationships, such interactions remain sub-optimal. There is a dearth of evidence on factors influencing implementation of interventions to support and encourage therapeutic engagement.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Lung cancer survival remains poor. The introduction of Intensity-Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT) allows treatment of more complex tumours as it improves conformity around the tumour and greater normal tissue sparing. However, there is limited evidence assessing the clinical impact of IMRT.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOutcomes of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD n = 587) and interstitial lung disease (ILD n = 34) treated with curative-intent radiotherapy were retrospectively investigated. Presence of ILD but not decreased forced expiratory volume in 1-second correlated with poor overall survival. Increased breathlessness and oxygen requirements after radiotherapy were observed in severe/very severe COPD and ILD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGut Directed Hypnosis (GDH) is a specialised form of hypnotherapy originally developed to reduce gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms in individuals with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). IBS is a condition characterised by symptoms including bloating, abdominal pain and diarrhoea and/or constipation as well as psychosocial symptoms such as depression and anxiety. Although the specific mechanism of action remains unclear, it is suggested that GDH works on the brain-gut axis to improve GI symptoms, psychological functioning and overall wellbeing.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFClin Oncol (R Coll Radiol)
October 2020
Aims: Choosing the optimal palliative lung radiotherapy regimen is challenging. Guidance from The Royal College of Radiologists recommends treatment stratification based on performance status, but evidence suggests that higher radiotherapy doses may be associated with survival benefits. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of fractionation regimen and additional factors on the survival of palliative lung cancer radiotherapy patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Osteocraniostenosis (OCS) is a rare genetic disorder characterised by premature closure of cranial sutures, gracile bones and perinatal lethality. Previously, diagnosis has only been possible postnatally on clinical and radiological features. This study describes the first prenatal diagnosis of OCS.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Prophylactic irradiation to the chest wall after diagnostic or therapeutic procedures in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) has been a widespread practice across Europe, although the efficacy of this treatment is uncertain. In this study, we aimed to determine the efficacy of prophylactic radiotherapy in reducing the incidence of chest wall metastases (CWM) after a procedure in MPM.
Methods: After undergoing a chest wall procedure, patients with MPM were randomly assigned to receive prophylactic radiotherapy (within 42 days of the procedure) or no radiotherapy.
J Adolesc Young Adult Oncol
August 2019
Delays in diagnosis and treatment are regularly discussed as potential poor prognostic factors for adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer patients. We aimed to determine whether AYA cancer patients (15-24 years of age) in the South Island of New Zealand had longer times to diagnosis and treatment than pediatric (<15 years) and adult patients (>24 years) with the same diagnosis. A retrospective review of medical records was undertaken for 201 recently diagnosed sarcoma, Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) patients in the South Island.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTech Innov Patient Support Radiat Oncol
September 2018
Background: Treatment related toxicity is common after chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Our group has developed and validated an electronic Patient Reported Outcome questionnaire (ePRO) to assess symptoms and toxicity in lung cancer patients receiving (chemo)radiotherapy treatment. We assessed the need for volunteer support in clinics to assist patients in completing ePROs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Purpose: In lung cancer patients, accuracy in contouring is hampered by image artefacts introduced by respiratory motion. With the widespread introduction of 4DCT there is additional uncertainty caused by the use of different reconstruction techniques which will influence contour definition. This work aims to assess both inter- and intra-observer contour variation on average and motion compensated (mid-position) reconstructions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMany of the known SUMO substrates are nuclear proteins, which regulate gene expression and chromatin dynamics. Sumoylation, in general, appears to correlate with decreased transcriptional activity, and in many cases modulation of the chromatin template is implicated. Sumoylation of the core histones is associated with transcriptional silencing, and transcription factor sumoylation can decrease gene expression by promoting recruitment of chromatin modifying enzymes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEosinophilic myocarditis is a rare and potentially fatal condition characterised by eosinophilic inflammatory infiltration of myocardium. We report seven consecutive cases of eosinophilic myocarditis at our centre and discuss the important characteristics, investigation and management of this disease.
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