Publications by authors named "Tamara Vagg"

The ongoing development and integration of telehealth within CF care has been accelerated in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, with many centres publishing their experiences. Now, as the restrictions of the pandemic ease, the use of telehealth appears to be waning, with many centres returning to routine traditional face-to-face services. For most, telehealth is not integrated into clinical care models, and there is a lack of guidance on how to integrate such a service into clinical care.

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Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is a chronic life-limiting condition that affects multiple organs within the body. Patients must adhere to strict medication regimens, physiotherapy, diet, and attend regular clinic appointments to manage their condition effectively. This necessary but burdensome requirement has prompted investigations into how different digital health technologies can enhance current care by providing the opportunity to virtually monitor patients.

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The prevalence of mental health disorders is high among people with Cystic Fibrosis. The psychological symptoms in CF are associated with poor adherence, worse treatment outcomes, and greater health utilization/cost. Mental health and neurocognitive Adverse Events (AEs) have been reported with all available Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane conductance Regulator (CFTR) modulators in small groups of patients.

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Background: Previous studies showed that the combination of Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator (CFTR) corrector and potentiator, lumacaftor-ivacaftor (LUMA-IVA) provides meaningful clinical benefits in patients with cystic fibrosis who are homozygous for the Phe508del mutation. However, little is known about the effect of LUMA-IVA on Proinflammatory Cytokines (PICs).

Objectives: To investigate the impact of LUMA-IVA modulation on circulatory and airway cytokines before and after 12 months of LUMA-IVA treatment in a real-world setting.

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Tooth morphology is a foundation course for all dental healthcare students including dentists, dental hygiene, dental therapy, and dental nursing students. This chapter explores the conventional and innovative teaching methods to deliver tooth morphology educational modules. The teaching tools are explored with a 2D and 3D lens, with a particular focus on visualization, student understanding, and engagement.

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Human embryology is a complex topic that brings together core components of anatomy and physiology to describe the developmental process from fertilisation to birth. Embryonic development is a challenging topic of study that is core to the curricula for health science students. There are challenges ingrained in teaching and learning embryology, due to the three-dimensional dynamic processes that occur as the embryo develops.

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Ultrasound education traditionally involves theoretical and practical training on patients or on simulators; however, difficulty accessing training equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for home-based training systems. Due to the prohibitive cost of ultrasound probes, few medical students have access to the equipment required for at home training. Our proof of concept study focused on the development and assessment of the technical feasibility and training performance of an at-home training solution to teach the basics of interpreting and generating ultrasound data.

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Purpose Of Review: At many institutions, the Covid-19 pandemic made it necessary to rapidly change the way services are provided to patients, including those with cystic fibrosis (CF). The purpose of this review is to explore the past, present and future of telehealth and virtual monitoring in CF and to highlight certain challenges/considerations in developing such services.

Recent Findings: The Covid-19 pandemic has proven that telehealth and virtual monitoring are a feasible means for safely providing services to CF patients when traditional care is not possible.

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Tooth morphology has a pivotal role in the dental curriculum and provides one of the important foundations of clinical practice. To supplement tooth morphology teaching a three-dimensional (3D) quiz application (app) was developed. The 3D resource enables students to study tooth morphology actively by selecting teeth from an interactive quiz, modify their viewpoint and level of zoom.

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