Life Sciences Commons^™

A Snapshot Investigation Into The Availability And Access To Codeine-Containing Medications Amongst The Irish Population., Katie O'Brien, Pádraig Mckeown, Joseph Phelan

International Undergraduate Journal of Health Sciences

Codeine phosphate is a mild to moderate analgesic and has a weak cough suppressant activity that is available to purchase as an over the counter (OTC) painkiller in Ireland as a compound product. In recent years, countries such as Australia have introduced laws that prohibit the sale of the drug without a valid prescription. This move by Australia begs the question as to why this legislation was introduced and should Ireland follow suit.

The primary aims of the study were to determine knowledge among the general public of codeine-containing medications and their usage levels. The survey also investigated whether current …

An Investigation Into The Prevalence Of Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci Within An Irish Hospital, Dylan Casey

International Undergraduate Journal of Health Sciences

Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) are well-recognised nosocomial pathogens that pose a significant threat to public health. Associated with poorer clinical outcomes than their vancomycin-sensitive counterparts, the prevalence of VRE in Ireland has increased in recent times, with the European Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Network reporting that out of 29 countries, Ireland demonstrated the highest rates of vancomycin resistance among invasive Enterococcus faecium isolates between 2011 and 2014 (2011; 34.9%, 2012; 44.0%, 2013; 42.7%, 2014; 45.1%). Herein, we investigate VRE prevalence in the Mercy University Hospital (MUH) – an acute care hospital in southern Ireland. A total of 21 first-time VRE infections were …

Predicting Carcass Cut Yields In Cattle From Digital Images Using Artificial Intelligence, Darragh Matthews, Thierry Pabiou, Ross D. Evans, Christian Beder, Aengus Daly

Department of Mathematics Publications

Deep Learning (DL) has proven to be a successful tool for many image classification problems but has yet to be applied to carcass images. The aim of this study was to train DL models to predict carcass cut yields and compare predictions to more standard machine learning (ML) methods. Three approaches were undertaken to predict the grouped carcass cut yields of Grilling cuts and Roasting cuts from a large dataset of 54,598 and 69,246 animals respectively. The approaches taken were (1) animal phenotypic data used as features for a range of ML algorithms, (2) carcass images used to train Convolutional …

An Investigation On The Irish Population’S Attitudes And Knowledge Towards Genetic Screening For Cancer, Emer Mccarthy, Ada Fleming, Dawn Hannah Cronin

International Undergraduate Journal of Health Sciences

Genetic mutations are alterations in DNA that may result in the development of a disease later in life. A BRCA gene is a tumour suppressor gene that helps to prevent the development of some cancers, particularly breast cancer. If a mutation occurs, this gene no longer functions at preventing these cancers. Genetic screening is when a population is tested for a mutation in an attempt to identify a group of people that are positive for the mutation. This can help identify cancer in different populations as well as track their inheritance. This study was conducted online, questioning the Irish populations …

A Qualitative Study On The Factors Affecting The Willingness Of 3rd Level Students To Register As Organ Donors In Ireland, Evelyn Hayes, Erika Horan, Cian Lally, Aisling Murphy

International Undergraduate Journal of Health Sciences

A wide range of factors contribute to an individual’s choice whether or not to register as an organ donor. The knowledge of the Irish population at large around the area of donation and transplantation is varied. A research survey was designed to be completed by third level students. The purpose of the research was to determine the most important factors that played a role in their decisions regarding opting-in to organ donation. A second aim of the survey was to determine the participants’ levels of knowledge and understanding on the ‘opt in’ donation system in place here in Ireland.

The …

An Investigation Of Healthcare Supports For Those With Food Allergy In Ireland, Joseph Bolger, Nicola Blake, Sneha Vinod

International Undergraduate Journal of Health Sciences

Introduction: In Ireland, around 5% of children and 3% adults have food allergy (134,000 people). This current paper describes a survey that was carried out on a subset of service-users with the aim of identifying whether there is a need for increased specialist medical services and/or for a funded charity such as Anaphylaxis Ireland, defunct since 2015.

Materials & Methods: These needs were assessed via an online survey using Google Forms. The survey was conducted from 17-27th February 2020. There were 31 questions in total, relating to topics such as symptoms, clinical wait times, satisfaction with care provided and demand …

Full Issue: The International Undergraduate Journal Of Health Sciences, Volume 1, Issue 1, June 2021

International Undergraduate Journal of Health Sciences

The full June 2021 issue (Volume 1, Issue 1) of the International Undergraduate Journal of Health Sciences

Pepblock Builder Vr – An Open-Source Tool For Gaming-Based Bio-Edutainment In Interactive Protein Design, Venkata V. B. Yallapragada, Tianshu Xu, Sidney P. Walker, Sabin Tabirca, Mark Tangney

Cappa Publications

Proteins mediate and perform various fundamental functions of life. This versatility of protein function is an attribute of its 3D structure. In recent years, our understanding of protein 3D structure has been complemented with advances in computational and mathematical tools for protein modelling and protein design. 3D molecular visualisation is an essential part in every protein design and protein modelling workflow. Over the years, stand-alone and web-based molecular visualisation tools have been used to emulate three-dimensional view on computers. The advent of virtual reality provided the scope for immersive control of molecular visualisation. While these technologies have significantly improved our …

Investigating The Use Of Ultraviolet Light Emitting Diodes (Uv-Leds) For The Inactivation Of Bacteria In Powdered Food Ingredients, Laura Nyhan, Milosz Przyjalgowski, Liam O'Faolain, Máire Begley, Michael Callanan

Cappa Publications

The addition of contaminated powdered spices and seasonings to finished products which do not undergo further processing represents a significant concern for food manufacturers. To reduce the incidence of bacterial contamination, seasoning ingredients should be subjected to a decontamination process. Ultraviolet light emitting diodes (UV-LEDs) have been suggested as an alternative to UV lamps for reducing the microbial load of foods, due to their increasing efficiency, robustness and decreasing cost. In this study, we investigated the efficacy of UV-LED devices for the inactivation of four bacteria (Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis and Salmonella Typhimurium) on a plastic surface and …

Genetic Characterization Of Nodular Worm Infections In Asian Apes, Erhan Yalcindag, Peter Stuart, Hideo Hasegawa, Adrian Streit, Jana Doležalová, Helen Morrogh-Bernard, Susan M. Cheyne, Wisnu Nurcahyo, Ivona Foitová

Department of Biological Sciences Publications

Parasitic nematodes of Oesophagostomum spp., commonly known, as 'nodular worms' are emerging as the most widely distributed and prevalent zoonotic nematodes. Oesophagostomum infections are well documented in African non-human primates; however, the taxonomy, distribution and transmission of Oesophagostomum in Asian non-human primates are not adequately studied. To better understand which Oesophagostomum species infect Asian non-human primates and determine their phylogeny we analysed 55 faecal samples from 50 orangutan and 5 gibbon individuals from Borneo and Sumatra. Both microscopy and molecular results revealed that semi-wild animals had higher Oesophagostomum infection prevalence than free ranging animals. Based on sequence genotyping analysis targeting …

Genomic Diversity Of Salmonella Enterica -The Uowucc 10k Genomes Project, Mark Achtman, Zhemin Zhou, Nabil Fareed Alikhan, William Tyne, Julian Parkhill, Martin Cormican, Chien Shun Chiou, Mia Torpdahl, Eva Litrup, Deirdre M. Prendergast, John E. Moore, Sam Strain, Christian Kornschober, Richard Meinersmann, Alexandra Uesbeck, François Xavier Weill, Aidan Coffey, Helene Andrews-Polymenis, Roy Curtiss, Séamus Fanning

Department of Biological Sciences Publications

Background: Most publicly available genomes of Salmonella enterica are from human disease in the US and the UK, or from domesticated animals in the US. Methods: Here we describe a historical collection of 10,000 strains isolated between 1891-2010 in 73 different countries. They encompass a broad range of sources, ranging from rivers through reptiles to the diversity of all S. enterica isolated on the island of Ireland between 2000 and 2005. Genomic DNA was isolated, and sequenced by Illumina short read sequencing. Results: The short reads are publicly available in the Short Reads Archive. They were also uploaded to EnteroBase, …

Defining The Potential Of Gene Therapy With Bone Morphogenetic Proteins As A Novel Therapeutic Approach In Parkinson’S Disease, Susan Rebecca Goulding

Theses

Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder, characterised by the progressive degeneration of midbrain dopaminergic neurons, and the intracellular aggregation of the α-synuclein protein in neurons throughout the nervous system. These changes result in the characteristic motor impairments in Parkinson’s disease. Current treatments are solely symptomatic and therefore there is an unmet clinical need to develop new disease-modifying therapies that can alter disease progression. For over 25 years, one proposed experimental therapy has focused on the delivery of proteins called neurotrophic factors to the brain to prevent dopaminergic neuron degeneration. However, to date, clinical trials using the most well-known neurotrophic factors …

Laser-Scribed Graphene Electrodes As Inflammatory Biosensors (Laserflame), Pei Shee Tan

Theses

Laser-scribed graphene electrodes (LSGE) are a low cost, portable, flexible and ideal electrochemical platform approach as point of care biosensors. It is anticipated that integrating the detection of immune cell inflammatory cytokines with LSGEs may present a useful diagnostic platform for managing the risk of inflammatory diseases as early detection of inflammatory molecules could significantly improve the treatment and outcome of diseases induced by protracted inflammation, such as cancer, asthma and rheumatoid arthritis. This study proposed LSGE first time novel use in the detection of an inflammatory cytokine released by immune cells (monocyte THP-1 cell line), with high sensitivity and …

The Role Of Software Engineering In Bioinformatics, Brendan Sean Lawlor

Theses

This thesis proposes that by applying state-of-the-art software engineering tools, techniques and frameworks to currently recognised challenges in bioinformatics, improved outcomes can be attained in that field. It begins by decomposing software engineering into two categories, namely process and architecture, and choosing two key challenges in the practice of bioinformatics: reproducibility and scalability. The body of the thesis is an exploration of the intersection between these two software engineering categories and these two bioinformatics challenges. The question is asked: Can best practices in professional software engineering be applied to address key issues in the bioinformatics domain, creating positive outcomes? And …

Comparison Of The Effects Of Land Use / Land Cover On Water Quality And The Intertidal Marine Macroalgae Communities At The Fluvial Outflows Of The Dingle Peninsula, Cassandra Lew

Theses

The Milltown, Feohanagh, and Owenmore river basins located on the Dingle Peninsula in Ireland were studied to see how variation in land use and land cover (LU/LC) affected water quality and the macroalgal communities at each river’s respective fluvial outflow. Abundance and composition of macroalgae in river and coastal water bodies have been designated as an indicator of water quality according to the Water Framework Directive 2000. The results of this study found that the Feohanagh’s macroalgal community had the highest species richness for most months while the Milltown had the highest Shannon Diversity Index. The Owenmore’s community was consistently …

Crop Salinity Tolerance Induction Using Novel Biostimulants (Saltibio), Elomofe Ikuyinminu

Theses

Salinity is one of the major abiotic stresses affecting crop production, especially in arid and semi-arid areas. Most of the vegetable crops are salt sensitive, growing inadequately in salinised soils due to the accumulation of toxic ions from prolonged, inadequate irrigation programs. A meaningful approach to counteract salinity stress and increase crop yield is the use of protein hydrolysate biostimulants (PHBs). The main objectives of this study were to generate legume-derived PHBs by enzymatic hydrolysis, evaluate their ability to induce salinity stress tolerance in plants, and understand their mode of action. A full compositional and structural analysis of the generated …

Elucidation Of Multi-Origin Inula Helenium L. For Antimicrobial Activity And Heavy Metal Profiling As An Exemplar For The Use And Regulation Of Plants As Antibiotics., Ciara Ruth Kenny

Theses

An impending post-antibiotic era looms, thus new sources of therapeutic chemical entities are crucial to sustain effective antimicrobial chemotherapy worldwide. Plant natural products are a source of accessible, structurally diverse compounds that provide therapeutic potential. The pharmacological applications of plants in medicine can be guided by the attestation of traditional use or the application of this knowledge to uncover new leads in the drug discovery process. The range of modified in vitro methods commonly used to investigate preclinical antimicrobial efficacy of plant-derived natural products, and the associated limitations and challenges in the provision of new antimicrobial drugs from plants is …

Predicting Carcass Cut Yields In Cattle From Digitalimages Using Artificial Intelligence, Darragh Matthews

Theses

Beef carcass classification in Europe is predicated on the EUROP grid for both fatness and conformation. Although this system performs well for grouping visually similar carcasses, it cannot be used to accurately predict meat yields from these groups, especially when considered on an individual cut level. Deep Learning (DL) has proven to be a successful tool for many image classification problems but has yet to be fully proven in a regression scenario using carcass images. Here we have trained DL models to predict carcass cut yields and compared predictions to more standard machine learning (ML) methods. Three approaches were undertaken …

Predicting, Monitoring And Controlling The Growth Of Listeria In Complex Food Matrices, Laura Mary Nyhan

Theses

Listeria monocytogenes is a foodborne pathogen which is a significant challenge in food production, particularly for ready-to-eat (RTE) products. Incidence of Listeria in RTE foods can be reduced by the application of intelligent combinations of preservative factors or hurdles, while data quantifying the efficacy of hurdle combinations can be exploited and used in the area of predictive microbiology. Traditional culture-based techniques, such as viable plate counts, are commonly used to monitor the growth/survival of microorganisms in foods, however these methods are tedious, time-consuming and due to their destructive nature, are associated with low reproducibility and high variability. Therefore, rapid, non-invasive …

Investigating The Antioxidant, Immunomodulatory And Anti-Obesogenic Propertiesof Novel Bsg-Derived Extracts And Their Potential As Ingredients In Functional Foods For Older Adults, Suzanne O Brien

Theses

Brewer’s Spent Grain (BSG) represents a substantial waste product of the brewing industry, with 39 million tonnes generated globally every year. To date the primary use of BSG is as animal feed but there is significant interest in identifying alternative uses for this agro-industry by-product. BSG is rich in protein and fibre and is known to contain health-promoting bioactive compounds, thus one application would be in the area of functional foods. People are living longer and as the older adult population continues to increase globally so too is the prevalence of age-related chronic conditions. Diet plays an essential role in …

Optimisation Of Grass Measurement Technologies Through Field Experimentation And Numerical Simulation Methods, Darren Joseph Murphy

Theses

Maximising pasture utilisation through optimal grassland management is vital in terms of ensuring the economic sustainability and mitigating the environmental impact of both Irish and global pasture-based livestock production. Frequent and accurate measurement of grass quantity and quality is one of the main methods of maximising grass production and utilisation on pasture-based farms. The most prominent grass measurement tool used on Irish pasture is the rising plate meter (RPM), however, there are a range of issues with this method including operator bias, precision and difficulties in accounting for spatial variation. Currently, there is no definitive protocol for grass measurement which …