Papers by Rachel Wilkinson
Teaching and Learning in Medicine
The Beau Street, Bath Hoard
Epidemiology and Infection
In November 2019, an outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O157:H7 was detected in S... more In November 2019, an outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O157:H7 was detected in South Yorkshire, England. Initial investigations established consumption of milk from a local dairy as a common exposure. A sample of pasteurised milk tested the next day failed the phosphatase test, indicating contamination of the pasteurised milk by unpasteurised (raw) milk. The dairy owner agreed to immediately cease production and initiate a recall. Inspection of the pasteuriser revealed a damaged seal on the flow divert valve. Ultimately, there were 21 confirmed cases linked to the outbreak, of which 11 (52%) were female, and 12/21 (57%) were either <15 or >65 years of age. Twelve (57%) patients were treated in hospital, and three cases developed haemolytic uraemic syndrome. Although the outbreak strain was not detected in the milk samples, it was detected in faecal samples from the cattle on the farm. Outbreaks of gastrointestinal disease caused by milk pasteurisation failures...
Critical Education, 2013
Our interactions with everyday objects inform our understanding of the world; yet today much of w... more Our interactions with everyday objects inform our understanding of the world; yet today much of what we use is tossed immediately. Items made in haste, used in haste, and made into waste belie the values that, for centuries, humans have taken for granted. What do our consumption practices teach our students today? I suggest that apathy, loss of agency, lack of integrity and disconnection is often a result of our incomplete understanding of what lasts and where things go when we’re finished with them. Fortunately, the literature classroom, which can introduce students to texts such as “God’s Grandeur,” Grapes of Wrath , and Frankenstein , among others, offers educators an opportunity to challenge our throwaway society and reverence what lasts.
The purpose of this qualitative research was to determine whether the outdoor play areas in Icela... more The purpose of this qualitative research was to determine whether the outdoor play areas in Icelandic preschools provide children with opportunities for risky play. Further to this the attitudes, perspectives and approaches that preschool teachers have towards risky play were explored. The final goal was to find out whether preschool teachers in Iceland encourage or hinder children s risky play activities. It is hoped that this research will provide more information on the situation of risky play in Icelandic preschools and raise awareness to the importance of such play. Photographs were taken of six preschool play areas, three in an urban area and three in a rural area of North Iceland to assist during data analysis. Drawings of the photographs were included to assist the reader get a clearer picture of the play features. Semi-structured, one-on-one interviews, using open-ended questions, were chosen as the method to collect data from twelve preschool teachers. The results of this ...
The Beau Street, Bath Hoard, 2019
The Beau Street, Bath Hoard, 2019
Australian and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 2021
Persistent pelvic pain (PPP) is an important cause of psychological distress and productivity los... more Persistent pelvic pain (PPP) is an important cause of psychological distress and productivity loss in women. In 2017, a multidisciplinary clinic was established to care for Queensland women with PPP. By analysing clinic and emergency department data, we found 19% fewer patients required any presentation to the emergency department for exacerbations of pelvic pain (P = 0.003) within 12 months of clinic attendance. There was also a reduction in number of presentations, short stay admissions and daily opiate use in regular users. The Persistent Pelvic Pain Clinic (PPPC) made a difference to these women and reduced resource burden on a busy emergency department.
Heart, Lung and Circulation, 2016
Nephrology, dialysis, transplantation : official publication of the European Dialysis and Transplant Association - European Renal Association, Jan 20, 2018
γδ T cells are effector lymphocytes recognized as key players during chronic inflammatory process... more γδ T cells are effector lymphocytes recognized as key players during chronic inflammatory processes. Mouse studies suggest a pathological role for γδ T cells in models of kidney disease. Here we evaluated γδ T cells in human native kidneys with tubulointerstitial fibrosis, the pathological hallmark of chronic kidney disease. γδ T cells were extracted from human kidney tissue and enumerated and phenotyped by multicolour flow cytometry. Localization and cytokine production by γδ T cells was examined by immunofluorescent microscopy. We detected significantly elevated numbers of γδ T cells in diseased biopsies with tubulointerstitial fibrosis compared with diseased biopsies without fibrosis and healthy kidney tissue. At a subset level, only numbers of Vδ1+ γδ T cells were significantly elevated in fibrotic kidney tissue. Expression levels of cluster of differentiation 161 (CD161), a marker of human memory T cells with potential for innate-like function and interleukin (IL)-17A productio...
Pediatrics, 2018
Neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) is a postnatal drug withdrawal syndrome that can occur after i... more Neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) is a postnatal drug withdrawal syndrome that can occur after intrauterine opioid exposure. Adverse neurobehavioral outcomes have been documented in infants with NAS; however, educational outcomes have not been thoroughly examined. We analyzed Tennessee data to understand the need for special educational services among infants who are born with NAS. By using Tennessee Medicaid and birth certificate data, infants who were born in Tennessee between 2008 and 2011 with a history of NAS were matched (1:3) to infants who were born during the same period without a history of NAS. Groups were matched on the basis of sex, race and/or ethnicity, age, birth region of residence, and Medicaid enrollment status. Data were linked to Tennessee Department of Education special education data during early childhood (3-8 years of age). Conditional multivariable logistic regression was used to assess associations between NAS and selected special education outcomes. A to...
NPJ breast cancer, 2018
Neuronal calcium sensor-1 (NCS-1) has been identified as a binding partner of the taxane, paclita... more Neuronal calcium sensor-1 (NCS-1) has been identified as a binding partner of the taxane, paclitaxel. Our previous study showed that overexpression of NCS-1 increased the efficacy of paclitaxel in vitro, but was associated with poor clinical outcome. Here, we determine if NCS-1 expression is associated with pathological complete response (pCR) to taxane-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy in 105 pre-treatment breast cancer biopsies. Elevated expression of NCS-1 was found to be positively associated with pCR. These results suggest that NCS-1 may be a predictive biomarker for response to taxane-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer.
Journal of extracellular vesicles, 2017
Human proximal tubular epithelial cells (PTEC) of the kidney are known to respond to and mediate ... more Human proximal tubular epithelial cells (PTEC) of the kidney are known to respond to and mediate the disease process in a wide range of kidney diseases, yet their exosomal production and exosome molecular cargo remain a mystery. Here we investigate, for the first time, the production and molecular content of exosomes derived from primary human PTEC cultured under normal and diseased conditions representing a spectrum of in vivo disease severity from early inflammation, experienced in multiple initial kidney disease states, through to hypoxia, frequently seen in late stage chronic kidney disease (CKD) due to fibrosis and vascular compromise. We demonstrate a rapid reproducible methodology for the purification of PTEC-derived exosomes, identify increased numbers of exosomes from disease-state cultures and identify differential expression levels of both known and unique miRNA and protein species from exosomes derived from different disease-culture conditions. The validity of our approa...
Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Jan 11, 2016
Student personnel departments need to examine their role critically in terms of reforming higher ... more Student personnel departments need to examine their role critically in terms of reforming higher education for "new" minority group students. These students' problems are threefold: those related to the college; those personal in origin; and those with social or psychological cause. Five specific deficiencies of student services are: (1) failure to admit more black and Puerto Rican students: (2) the image of the counseling process as a failure by "new" students; (3) many schools' failure to provide needed medical services to the "new" student; (4) neglect of "new" students" financial assistance; and (5) inadequacy of orientation programs. The following are suggestions for student services improvement: (1) organize separate student personnel services to focus entirely on meeting the needs of disadvantaged students; (2) change the role of the counselor, stressing the responsibility of serving as facilitator or enabler; and (3) actively involve the community in minority student and college affairs. (CA)
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Papers by Rachel Wilkinson