Systematic review of adherence to swallow and trismus exercises during radiation therapy for head and neck cancer.

Understanding the barriers and facilitators for prophylactic swallowing and trismus exercises for patients undergoing radiation to the head and neck may help exercise adherence. The analysis reviews all published reports of exercise adherence with a critical appraisal following PRISMA guidelines. A total of 137 potential papers were identified; 20 studies met the inclusion criteria.

The agreement of phonetic transcriptions between paediatric speech and language therapists transcribing a disordered speech sample.

Background: Speech and language therapists (SLTs) regularly use phonetic transcription to record and analyse typical and disordered speech. Phonetic transcription is highly demanding of auditory perceptual skills so researchers are sceptical about its accuracy and reliability. The literature describes how phonetic transcription is prone to auditory illusions and biases, such as a preference to transcribe speech sounds from the transcriber's own language.

Communicative efficiency in multimodal language directed at children and adults.

The ecology of human communication is face to face. In these contexts, speakers dynamically modify their communication across vocal (e.g.

The effectiveness of evidence-based healthcare educational interventions on healthcare professionals' knowledge, skills, attitudes, professional practice and healthcare outcomes: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: The primary aim of this systematic review is to assess the effectiveness of evidence-based healthcare (EBHC) educational interventions on healthcare professionals' knowledge, skills, attitudes, behaviour of EBHC, clinical process and care outcomes. A secondary aim of the review is to assess the effects of important pedagogical moderating factors for EBHC educational interventions.

Method: This systematic review used a forward and backward citation search strategy on the Web of Science platform (date of inception to 28 April 2023).

Change, Adversity, and Adaptation: Young People's Experience of the COVID-19 Pandemic Expressed through Artwork and Semi-Structured Interviews.

This study explores how young people's mental health was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic using artwork and semi-structured interviews. The mental health impacts of the pandemic are important to understand so that policy and practice professionals can support those affected, prepare and respond to future crises, and support young people who are isolated and restricted in other contexts. Co-designed participatory art workshops and interviews were conducted with 16-18-year-olds ( = 21, 62% female) from the London-based Longitudinal cohort Study of Cognition, Adolescents and Mobile Phones (SCAMP).

Training deep learning based dynamic MR image reconstruction using open-source natural videos.

To develop and assess a deep learning (DL) pipeline to learn dynamic MR image reconstruction from publicly available natural videos (Inter4K). Learning was performed for a range of DL architectures (VarNet, 3D UNet, FastDVDNet) and corresponding sampling patterns (Cartesian, radial, spiral) either from true multi-coil cardiac MR data (N = 692) or from synthetic MR data simulated from Inter4K natural videos (N = 588). Real-time undersampled dynamic MR images were reconstructed using DL networks trained with cardiac data and natural videos, and compressed sensing (CS).

Referral Patterns to Speech and Language Therapy in the UK before, during, and after the COVID-19 Pandemic: Dysphagia Compared with Communication Disorders.

Introduction: Acquired swallowing impairment is a major public health issue that often leads to increased morbidity and slower recovery. Speech and language therapists (SLTs) have taken the lead in the assessment and treatment of dysphagia, which is reflected in guidelines where early intervention is recommended. This is in addition to the central role that SLTs play in the management of acquired communication impairments since research indicates that patients with communication difficulties benefit from early and intensive therapy by SLTs.

Reproducibility in Radiomics: A Comparison of Feature Extraction Methods and Two Independent Datasets.

Radiomics involves the extraction of information from medical images that are not visible to the human eye. There is evidence that these features can be used for treatment stratification and outcome prediction. However, there is much discussion about the reproducibility of results between different studies.

Exercise adherence for patients with trismus after head and neck cancer treatment.

Background: Head and neck cancer treatment often leads to trismus, a condition characterized by limited mouth opening. Exercise-based therapy is the most common intervention but there are no clear guidelines as to the optimal exercise regimen. Restorabite™ is a portable and force-regulated trismus device designed to enhance exercise adherence.

Symptom-based staging for logopenic variant primary progressive aphasia.

Background And Purpose: Logopenic variant primary progressive aphasia (lvPPA) is a major variant presentation of Alzheimer's disease (AD) that signals the importance of communication dysfunction across AD phenotypes. A clinical staging system is lacking for the evolution of AD-associated communication difficulties that could guide diagnosis and care planning. Our aim was to create a symptom-based staging scheme for lvPPA, identifying functional milestones relevant to the broader AD spectrum.

Correlation between oral and oropharyngeal resection subsites and impact of reconstruction on speech and swallowing function in head and neck cancer patients: A systematic review.

This review aims to provide a correlation between oral and oropharyngeal subsites and type of reconstruction used in the management of head and neck cancer patients. A literature search of PubMed, Embase and Web of Science was conducted. All study types describing long-term speech and swallow outcomes of adults following head and neck oncological reconstruction, which used a subsite classification, were included.

Primary mode of communication for people with total laryngectomy in the UK: a cross-sectional survey.

Objective: This study aimed to report on the UK rate of surgical voice restoration usage and investigate the factors that influence its uptake.

Method: A national multicentre audit of people with total laryngectomy was completed over a six-month period (March to September 2020) in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. This study is a secondary analysis of the data collected, focusing on the primary communication methods used by people with total laryngectomy.

Does the use of higher versus lower oxygen concentration improve neurodevelopmental outcomes at 18-24 months in very low birthweight infants?

Background: Immediately after birth, the oxygen saturation is between 30 and 50%, which then increases to 85-95% within the first 10 min. Over the last 10 years, recommendations regarding the ideal level of the initial fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO) for resuscitation in preterm infants have changed from 1.0, to room air to low levels of oxygen (< 0.

Restorabite™: Phase II trial of jaw stretching exercises using a novel device for patients with trismus following head and neck cancer.

Patients treated for oral cancer, may experience restricted mouth opening (trismus). Barriers such as cost have limited the utilization of traditional jaw stretching devices, and consequently, patients experience problems with swallowing, oral care, communication, and cancer surveillance. The safety and efficacy of Restorabite™, a new device designed to overcome these barriers, is evaluated prospectively over 12 months.

Genotype-phenotype correlation in PRKN-associated Parkinson's disease.

Bi-allelic pathogenic variants in PRKN are the most common cause of autosomal recessive Parkinson's disease (PD). 647 patients with PRKN-PD were included in this international study. The pathogenic variants present were characterised and investigated for their effect on phenotype.

The Application of Radiomics and AI to Molecular Imaging for Prostate Cancer.

Molecular imaging is a key tool in the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer (PCa). Magnetic Resonance (MR) plays a major role in this respect with nuclear medicine imaging, particularly, Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen-based, (PSMA-based) positron emission tomography with computed tomography (PET/CT) also playing a major role of rapidly increasing importance. Another key technology finding growing application across medicine and specifically in molecular imaging is the use of machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI).

A Protocol for Evaluating Digital Technology for Monitoring Sleep and Circadian Rhythms in Older People and People Living with Dementia in the Community.

Sleep and circadian rhythm disturbance are predictors of poor physical and mental health, including dementia. Long-term digital technology-enabled monitoring of sleep and circadian rhythms in the community has great potential for early diagnosis, monitoring of disease progression, and assessing the effectiveness of interventions. Before novel digital technology-based monitoring can be implemented at scale, its performance and acceptability need to be evaluated and compared to gold-standard methodology in relevant populations.

Invaluable Benefits of 10 Years of the International Collaboration of Aphasia Trialists (CATs).

Aphasia research has traditionally been considered a (unidisciplinary) niche topic in medical science. The international Collaboration of Aphasia Trialists (CATs) is a global collaboration of multidisciplinary aphasia researchers. Over the past 10 years, CATs has collectively taken a rigorous approach to systematically address persistent challenges to aphasia research quality.

Development of New Open-Set Speech Material for Use in Clinical Audiology with Speakers of British English.

Background: The Chear open-set performance test (COPT), which uses a carrier phrase followed by a monosyllabic test word, is intended for clinical assessment of speech recognition, evaluation of hearing-device performance, and the fine-tuning of hearing devices for speakers of British English. This paper assesses practice effects, test-retest reliability, and the variability across lists of the COPT.

Method: In experiment 1, 16 normal-hearing participants were tested using an initial version of the COPT, at three speech-to-noise ratios (SNRs).

`It's not just linguistically, there's much more going on': The experiences and practices of bilingual paediatric speech and language therapists in the UK.

Background: Despite the high prevalence of bilingualism in the United Kingdom, few speech and language therapists (SLTs) are bilingual themselves. Most SLT research on bilingualism has generated knowledge to inform service delivery for bilingual clients, but few studies have investigated how being a bilingual SLT influences one's professional experiences and practices. Better understanding the unique positionality of bilingual SLTs can yield critical insights to meaningfully address issues of diversity, inclusion and equity in the profession.

Comprehensive quality assessment for aphasia rehabilitation after stroke: protocol for a multicentre, mixed-methods study.

Introduction: People with aphasia following stroke experience disproportionally poor outcomes, yet there is no comprehensive approach to measuring the quality of aphasia services. The Meaningful Evaluation of Aphasia SeRvicES (MEASuRES) minimum dataset was developed in partnership with people with lived experience of aphasia, clinicians and researchers to address this gap. It comprises sociodemographic characteristics, quality indicators, treatment descriptors and outcome measurement instruments.

People with Intellectual Disabilities, Dysphagia and Post-Covid Syndrome.

People with Intellectual Disability (ID) were more likely to contract COVID-19 infection and more likely to die from the consequences. However, there is no evidence on the long-term impact of COVID-19 infection in people with ID. Post-Covid Syndrome (PCS) is an established diagnosis that requires specialist clinical support.