Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

An Exploration Of Practitioners’ Experiences Of Delivering Digital Social Care Interventions To Children And Families During The Covid-19 Pandemic: Mixed Methods Study, Grainne Hickey, Claire Dunne, Lauren Maguire, Niamh Mccarthy

Articles

Digital technology is an increasingly prominent feature of health care delivery; however, social care has remained less digitized than other systems [1]. As an allied health profession, child and family social care practice is aimed at supporting the welfare and safety of vulnerable children and families. Similar to many other health professionals, social care practitioners develop an understanding of clients’ needs and provide support through the development of interpersonal relationships [2]. Traditionally, this involves physical proximity and face-to-face interaction, often in the context of the home environment [3]. Digital technologies, however, have crept into the delivery of social care interventions …

Raman Spectroscopy For Early Detection Of Cervical Cancer, A Global Women’S Health Issue—A Review, Rubina Shaikh, Amuthachelvie Daniel, Fiona Lyng

Articles

This review focuses on recent advances and future perspectives in the use of Raman spectroscopy for cervical cancer, a global women’s health issue. Cervical cancer is the fourth most common women’s cancer in the world, and unfortunately mainly affects younger women. However, when detected at the early precancer stage, it is highly treatable. High-quality cervical screening programmes and the introduction of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine are reducing the incidence of cervical cancer in many countries, but screening is still essential for all women. Current gold standard methods include HPV testing and cytology for screening, followed by colposcopy and histopathology …

Walkable Neighborhoods: Linkages Between Place, Health, And Happiness In Younger And Older Adults, Kevin M. Leyden, Michael J. Hogan, Lorraine D'Arcy, Brendan Bunting, Sebastiaan Bierema

Articles

Problem, research strategy, and findings: We examined whether living in a walkable neighborhood influenced the happiness of younger and older city residents. The data for this study came from a comprehensive household population survey of 1,064 adults living in 16 neighborhoods in Dublin City (Ireland) and its suburbs. We used multigroup structural equation modeling to analyze the direct and indirect effects of walkability on happiness, mediated by health, trust, and satisfaction with neighborhood appearance. We found living in a walkable neighborhood was directly linked to the happiness of people aged 36 to 45 (p¼.001) and, to a lesser extent, those …

Evaluation Of Selenomethionine Entrapped In Nanoparticles For Oral Supplementation Using In Vitro, Ex Vivo And In Vivo Models, Shane Forde, Giuliana Vozza, David J. Brayden, Jesus Maria Frias, Sinead M. Ryan

Articles

Selenium methionine (Se Met) is an essential micronutrient required for normal body function and is associated with additional health benefits. However, oral administration of Se Met can be challenging due to its purported narrow therapeutic index, low oral bioavailability, and high susceptibility to oxidation. To address these issues, Se Met was entrapped in z e i n-coated nanoparticles made from chitosan using an ionic gelation formulation. The high stability of both the Se Met and s e l e n o methionine nanoparticles (Se Met-NPs) was established using cultured human intestinal and liver epithelial cells, rat liver homogenates, and rat …

The Future Of Clinical Trials Of Myopia Control, Mark A. Bullimore, Noel A. Brennan, Daniel I. Flintcroft

Articles

In the field of myopia control, effective optical or pharmaceutical therapies are now available to patients in many markets. This creates challenges for the conduct of placebo-controlled, randomised clinical trials, including ethics, recruitment, retention, selective loss of faster progressors and non-protocol treatments: 1. Ethics: It is valid to question whether withholding treatment in control subjects is ethical. 2. Recruitment: Availability of treatments is making recruitment into clinical trials more difficult. 3. Retention: If masking is not possible, parents may immediately withdraw their child if randomised to no treatment. 4. Selective loss: Withdrawal of fast progressors in the control group leading …

“Mind The Gap” - An Overview Of The Role Of The Extensions Community Healthcare Outcomes (Echo) Model In Enhancing Value In Health Care Delivery, Christina Kenny, Anushree Priyadarshini

Articles

The ECHO (Extensions Community Healthcare Outcomes) model of healthcare delivery has grown rapidly since its establishment and increased in popularity in recent years. This expansion has developed alongside the growing incidence of chronic diseases and the need to better manage them. The increasing uptake in ECHO has presented a requirement to assess its true value as healthcare costs are increasing globally, resulting in a growing demand by governments and policy makers to ensure chronic disease management strategies provide true value. Therefore, the aim of this review is to examine the impact that ECHO has on clinical practice and how such …

Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Response To Vitamin D Supplementation Using Different Lipid Delivery Systems In Middle-Aged And Older Adults: A Randomised Controlled Trial, Aisling F. Mccourt, Steven L. Mulrooney, Graham O'Neill, E. Dolores O'Riordan, Aifric M. O'Sullivan

Articles

Food fortification improves vitamin D intakes but is not yet mandated in many countries. Combining vitamin D with different dietary lipids altered vitamin D absorption in in vitro and postprandial studies. This randomised, placebo-controlled trial examined the effect of the lipid composition of a vitamin D-fortified dairy drink on change in 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentrations. Sixty-three healthy adults aged 50+ years were randomised to one of the following for 4 weeks: vitamin D-fortified olive oil dairy drink, vitamin D-fortified coconut oil dairy drink, vitamin D supplement or placebo control dairy drink. All vitamin D groups received 20 µg of vitamin …

Biomolecules From Macroalgae-Nutritional Profile And Bioactives For Novel Food Product Development, Laura E. Healy, Xianglu Zhu, Milica Pojić, Carl Sullivan, Uma Tiwari, James Curtin, Brijesh K Tiwari

Articles

Seaweed is in the spotlight as a promising source of nutrition for humans as the search for sustainable food production systems continues. Seaweed has a well-documented rich nutritional profile containing compounds such as polyphenols, carotenoids and polysaccharides as well as proteins, fatty acids and minerals. Seaweed processing for the extraction of functional ingredients such as alginate, agar, and carrageenan is well-established. Novel pretreatments such as ultrasound assisted extraction or high-pressure processing can be incorporated to more efficiently extract these targeted ingredients. The scope of products that can be created using seaweed are wide ranging: from bread and noodles to yoghurt …

Three-Dimensional (3d) In Vitro Cell Culture Protocols To Enhance Glioblastoma Research, Janith Wanigasekara, Lara Carroll, Patrick J. Cullen, Brijesh K. Tiwari, James Curtin

Articles

Three-dimensional (3D) cell culture models can help bridge the gap between in vitro cell cultures and in vivo responses by more accurately simulating the natural in vivo environment, shape, tissue stiffness, stressors, gradients and cellular response while avoiding the costs and ethical concerns associated with animal models. The inclusion of the third dimension in 3D cell culture influences the spatial organization of cell surface receptors that interact with other cells and imposes physical restrictions on cells in compared to Two-dimensional (2D) cell cultures. Spheroids’ distinctive cyto-architecture mimics in vivo cellular structure, gene expression, metabolism, proliferation, oxygenation, nutrition absorption, waste excretion, …

Antibacterial And Antifungal Activity Of Methanolic Extracts Of Salix Alba L. Against Various Disease Causing Pathogens, Bilal Javed, F. Farooq, M. Ibrahim, H.A.B. Abbas, H. Jawwad, S.S. Zehra, H.M. Ahmad, A. Sarwar, K. Malik, K. Nawaz

Articles

The present study was aimed to manifest the antibacterial and antifungal activity of methanolic extracts of Salix alba L. against seven Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial pathogens e.g. Streptococcus pyogenes, Staphylococcus aureus (1), S. aureus (2), Shigella sonnei, Escherichia coli (1), E. coli (2) and Neisseria gonorrhoeae and three fungal isolates from the air such as Aspergillus terreus, A. ornatus, and Rhizopus stolonifer. Two different serotypes of S. aureus and E. coli were used. The agar well-diffusion method results showed the dose-dependent response of plant extracts against bacterial and fungal strains while some organisms were found resistant e.g. E. coli (1), …

Monitoring And Modelling The Glutamine Metabolic Pathway: A Review And Future Perspectives, Zohreh Mirveis, Paul Cahill, Nitin Patel, Hugh Byrne

Articles

In this review, the contribution of NMR to the metabolomics field will be discussed—particularly as it relates to cancer and drug metabolism research. An overview of the typical NMR metabolomic experiment will be presented while emphasizing important caveats ranging from experimental design to data interpretation.

Enhanced Gene Transfection Efficacy And Safety Through Granular Hydrogel Mediated Gene Delivery Process, Jing Zhang, Zhonglei He, Yinghao Li, Yu Shen, Guanfu Wu, Laura Power, Rijian Song, Ming Zeng, Xianqing Wang, Irene Lara Sáez, Sigen A, Qian Xu, James Curtin, Ziyi Yu, Wenxin Wang

Articles

Although gene therapy has made great achievements in both laboratory research and clinical translation, there are still challenges such as limited control of drug pharmacokinetics, acute toxicity, poor tissue retention, insufficient efficacy, and inconsistent clinical translation. Herein, a gene therapy gel is formulated by directly redispersing polyplex nanoparticles into granular hydrogels without any gelation pre-treatment, which provides great convenience for storage, dosing and administration. In vitro studies have shown that use of granular hydrogels can regulate the gene drug release, reduce dose dependent toxicity and help improve transfection efficacy. Moreover, the developed gene therapy gel is easy to operate and …

Machine-Learning-Based Head Impact Subtyping Based On The Spectral Densities Of The Measurable Head Kinematics, Xianghao Zhan, Yiheng Li, Yuzhe Liu, Nicholas J. Cecchi, Samuel J. Raymond, Zhou Zhou, Hossein Vahid Alizadeh, Jesse Ruan, Saeed Barbat, Stephen Tiernan, Olivier Gevaert, Michael M. Zeineh, Gerald A. Grant, David B. Camarillo

Articles

Traumatic brain injury can be caused by head impacts, but many brain injury risk estimation models are not equally accurate across the variety of impacts that patients may undergo and the characteristics of different types of impacts are not well studied. We investigated the spectral characteristics of different head impact types with kinematics classification. Methods: Data was analyzed from 3,262 head impacts from lab reconstruction, American football, mixed martial arts, and publicly available car crash data. A random forest classifier with spectral densities of linear acceleration and angular velocity was built to classify head impact types (e.g., football, car crash, …

Imi—Nonpathological Human Ocular Tissue Changes With Axial Myopia, Jost B. Jonus, Richard F. Spaide, Lisa A. Ostrin, Nicola S. Logan, Daniel Ian Flitcroft, Songhomitra Panda-Jonas

Articles

In axial myopia, the eye changes from a spherical shape to a prolate ellipsoid, photoreceptor, and retinal pigment epithelium cell density and total retinal thickness decrease, most marked in the retroequatorial region, followed by the equator. The choroid and sclera are thin, most markedly at the posterior pole and least markedly at the ora serrata. The sclera undergoes alterations in fibroblast activity, changes in extracellular matrix content, and remodeling. Bruch’s membrane (BM) thickness is unrelated to axial length, although the BM volume increases. In moderate myopia, the BM opening shifts, usually toward the fovea, leading to the BM overhanging into …

Imi—Management And Investigation Of High Myopia In Infants And Young Children, Daniel Ian Flitcroft, John Ainsworth, Audrey Chia, Susan Cotter, Elise Harb, Zi-Bing Jin, Caroline C. W. Klaver, Anthony T. Moore, Ken K. Nischal, Kyoko Ohno-Matsui, Evelyn A. Paysse, Michael X. Repka, Irina Y. Smirnova, Martin Snead, Virginie J. M. Verhoeven, Pavan K. Verkicharla

Articles

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the epidemiology, etiology, clinical assessment, investigation, management, and visual consequences of high myopia (≤−6 diopters [D]) in infants and young children.

Tio2-Mwcnt Nanohybrid: Cytotoxicity, Protein Corona Formation And Cellular Internalisation In Rtg-2 Fish Cell Line, Gabriela Helena Da Silva, Lidiane Silva Franqui, Marcelo A. De Farias, Vera Lucia S.S. De Castro, Hugh Byrne, Diego S.T. Martinez, Regina T.R. Monteiro, Alan Casey

Articles

Titanium dioxide nanoparticles-multiwalled carbon nanotubes (TiO2-MWCNT) nanohydrid has an enhanced photocatalytic activity across the visible light with promising applications in environmental remediation, solar energy devices and antimicrobial technologies. However, it is necessary to evaluate the toxicological effects of TiO2-MWCNT towards safe and sustainable development of nanohybrids. In this work, we studied the cytotoxicity, protein corona formation and cellular internalisation of TiO2-MWCNT on fibroblasts derived from gonadal rainbow trout tissue (RTG-2) for the first time. This nanohydrid did not show any toxicity effect on RTG-2 cells up to 100 mg L-1 after 24 h of exposure as monitored by alamar blue, …

Imi 2023 Digest, Padmaja Sankaridurg, David A. Berntsen, Mark A. Bullimore, Pauline Cho, Daniel Ian Flitcroft, Timothy J. Gawne, Kate Gifford, Monica Jong, Lisa A. Ostrin Lisa A. Ostrin, Jacinto Santodomingo-Rubido, Christine Wildsoet, James S. Wolffsohn

Articles

Myopia is a dynamic and rapidly moving field, with ongoing research providing a better understanding of the etiology leading to novel myopia control strategies. In 2019, the International Myopia Institute (IMI) assembled and published a series of white papers across relevant topics and updated the evidence with a digest in 2021. Here, we summarize findings across key topics from the previous 2 years. Studies in animal models have continued to explore how wavelength and intensity of light influence eye growth and have examined new pharmacologic agents and scleral cross-linking as potential strategies for slowing myopia. In children, the term premyopia …

The Clinical Transferability Of Raman Micro-Spectroscopic Systems For Cervical Cytopathology, Rubina Shaikh Dr, Sarah Loughlin, Alison Malkin, John J. O'Leary, Cara M. Martin, Fiona Lyng

Conference papers

The clinical potential for Raman microscopic systems is well established for early diagnosis via cytology. Although Raman systems offer a complementary diagnostic tool providing molecular information, it is not yet utilised substantially in clinics. A few challenges for the clinical implementation of Raman spectroscopy are system and user variability. In this study, we asked how much variability occurs due to different Raman systems or users. To address these questions, we measured the same set of cells using two different Raman microscopes and by two different users. And classification models were generated using multivariate partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) and …

Characterization Of Food Chain Clostridioides Difficile Isolates In Terms Of Ribotype And Antimicrobial Resistance, Pilar Marcos, Aoife Doyle, Paul Whyte, Thomas R. Rogers, Maire Mcelroy, Seamus Fanning, Jesus Maria Frias, Declan Bolton

Articles

The aim of this study was to characterize C. difficile isolates from the farm, abattoir, and retail outlets in Ireland in terms of ribotype and antibiotic resistance (vancomycin, erythromycin, metronidazole, moxifloxacin, clindamycin, and rifampicin) using PCR and E-test methods, respectively. The most common ribotype in all stages of the food chain (including retail foods) was 078 and a variant (RT078/4). Less commonly reported (014/0, 002/1, 049, and 205) and novel (RT530, 547, and 683) ribotypes were also detected, but at lower frequencies. Approximately 72% (26/36 tested) of the isolates tested were resistant to at least one antibiotic, with the majority …

Integrating Consumer Risk Perception And Awareness With Simulation-Based Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment Using A Coupled Systems Framework: A Case Study Of Private Groundwater Users In Ontario, Tessa Latchmore, Sarah Lavallee, Paul Hynds, R. Stephen Brown R. Stephen Brown, Anna Majury

Articles

Private well users in Ontario are responsible for ensuring the potability of their own private drinking water source through protective actions (i.e., water treatment, well maintenance, and regular water quality testing). In the absence of regulation and limited surveillance, quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) represents the most practical and robust approach to estimating the human health burden attributable to private wells. For an increasingly accurate estimation, QMRA of private well water should be represented by a coupled model, which includes both the socio-cognitive and physical aspects of private well water contamination and microbial exposure. The objective of the current study …

Unintended Consequences Of Covid-19 Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions (Npis) For Population Health And Health Inequalities, Coilin Ohaiseadha, Gerry A. Quinn, Ronan Connolly, Awwad Wilson, Michael Connolly, Willie Soon, Paul Hynds

Articles

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, governments around the world have adopted an array of measures intended to control the transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, using both pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs). NPIs are public health interventions that do not rely on vaccines or medicines and include policies such as lockdowns, stay-at-home orders, school closures, and travel restrictions. Although the intention was to slow viral transmission, emerging research indicates that these NPIs have also had unintended consequences for other aspects of public health. Hence, we conducted a narrative review of studies investigating these unintended consequences of …

Groundwater Quality: Global Challenges, Emerging Threats And Novel Approaches, Dan Lapworth, Thomas Boving, Bentje Brauns, Jane Dottridge, Paul Hynds, Seifu Kebede, David Kreamer, Bruce Misstear, Abhijit Mukherjee, Abhijit Mukherjee, Viviana Re, James Sorensen, Claudia Ruz Vargas

Articles

Improving our understanding of groundwater quality threats to human health and the environment is essential to protect and manage groundwater resources effectively. This essay highlights some global groundwater quality challenges, describes key contaminant groups and threats of emerging concern, including antimicrobial resistance, and discusses novel approaches to assessing groundwater quality. Groundwater quality monitoring needs to improve significantly in order to effectively identify and mitigate threats to groundwater from historical, current and future pollution.

Occurrence Of High-Risk Clonal Lineages St58, St69, St224, And St410 Among Extended-Spectrum-Lactamase-Producing Escherichia Coli Isolated From Healthy Free-Range Chickens (Gallus Gallus Domesticus) In A Rural Region In Tunisia, Saloua Benlabidi, Anis Raddaoui, Sana Lengliz, Sarah Cheriet, Paul Hynds, Wafa Achour, Taoufik Ghrairi, Mohamed Salah Abbassi Salah Abbassi

Articles

Antimicrobial-resistant Escherichia coli isolates have emerged in various ecologic compartments and evolved to spread globally. We sought to (1.) investigate the occurrence of ESBL-producing E. coli (ESBL-Ec) in feces from free-range chickens in a rural region and (2.) characterize the genetic background of antimicrobial resistance and the genetic relatedness of collected isolates. Ninety-five feces swabs from free-range chickens associated with two households (House 1/House 2) in a rural region in northern Tunisia were collected. Samples were screened to recover ESBL-Ec, and collected isolates were characterized for phenotype/genotype of antimicrobial resistance, integrons, and molecular typing (pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and multilocus …

Assessing Antimicrobial And Metal Resistance Genes In Escherichia Coli From Domestic Groundwater Supplies In Rural Ireland, Luisa Andrade

Articles

Natural ecosystems can become significant reservoirs and/or pathways for antimicrobial resistance (AMR) dissemination, with the potential to affect nearby microbiological, animal, and ultimately human communities. This is further accentuated in environments that provide direct human exposure, such as drinking water. To date, however, few studies have investigated AMR dissemination potential and the presence of co-selective stressors (e. g., metals/metalloids) in groundwater environments of human health significance. Accordingly, the present study analysed samples from rural (drinking) groundwater supplies (i.e., private wells) in the Republic of Ireland, where land use is dominated by livestock grazing activities. In total, 48 Escherichia coli isolates …

Evaluation Of Irish Consumers’ Knowledge Of Salmonellosis And Foodhandling Practices, Ann Conway, Olugbenga Ehuwa, Meabh Manning, Aine Maye, Fintan Moran, Amit K. Jaiswal, Swarna Jaiswal

Articles

Salmonella is one of numerous food-borne pathogens that could possibly pose a major threat to global food safety. Salmonella is primarily associated with foods such as poultry, eggs, vegetables, and some dairy products. However, infected food handlers and faecal contaminated environments are also significant sources and reservoirs of this pathogen. This study comprehensively evaluated the Irish consumers’ food safety knowledge by exploring their knowledge level, practices and attitudes regarding raw meat handling, cross-contamination while handling different types of food products, and knowledge of Salmonella risk and associated food-handling practices. The online SurveyMonkey tool was used to distribute a quantitative survey …

Extraction Yield And Biological Activity Of Phycobiliproteins From Porphyridium Purpureum Using Atmospheric Cold Plasma Discharge And Jet Systems, Shaba Noore, Brijesh K. Tiwari, Anet R. Jambrak, Josipa Dukic, Janith Wanigasekara, James Curtin, Claudio Fuentes-Grunewald, Colm P. O’Donnell

Articles

Phycobiliproteins (PBPs) extracted from Porphyridium purpureum (P.p) have bioactive properties and are widely used as ingredients in nutraceutical and food applications. This study investigated the use of two cold plasma systems, namely cold plasma discharge system (CPDS) and cold plasma jet system (CPJS), for the aqueous extraction of PBPs from P. p. Three types of PBPs, namely phycoerythrin (PE), phycocyanin (PC) and allophycocyanin (APC) were identified in the crude extracts obtained. The highest PBPs extraction yield (11.31 ± 1.02 mg/g DW P. p) was obtained from CPDS treated samples at 25 kV using N2 for 9 min. CPDS treatments were …

Enzymatic Electrochemical Biosensors For Neurotransmitters Detection: Recent Achievements And Trends, Zina Fredj, Baljit Singh Dr., Mohamed Bahri, Peiwu Qin, Mohamad Sawan

Articles

Neurotransmitters (NTs) play a crucial role in regulating the behavioral and physiological functions of the nervous system. Imbalances in the concentrations of NT have been directly linked to various neurological diseases (e.g., Parkinson’s, Huntington’s, and Alzheimer’s disease), in addition to multiple psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia, depression, dementia, and other neurodegenerative disorders. Hence, the rapid and real-time monitoring of the NTs is of utmost importance in comprehending neurological functions and identifying disorders. Among different sensing techniques, electrochemical biosensors have garnered significant interest due to their ability to deliver fast results, compatibility for miniaturization and portability, high sensitivity, and good controllability. …

Pressure-Based Method For The Extraction And Characterisation Of Agar From Gelidium Sesquipedale, L.P. Gomez Barrio, D. Pradhan, U. Tiwari, J.F. Curtin, A.K. Jaiswal, B.K. Tiwari, C. Alvarez Garcia

Articles

Agar has been widely used in the food, pharmaceutical and medical fieldsand has been traditionally extracted by soaking the macroalgae for up to 4 h at boiling temperatures. Traditional methods are often energy intensive and therefore extraction technologies are currently being investigated in order to pursue more sustainable form of extraction. This study focused on the extraction of agar from Gelidium sesquipedale by means a combination of an acid pre-treatment (citric or acetic acid) followed by autoclaving at different time/temperature combinations. It was found that among all the conditions tested (10, 15 and 20 min) and (100, 110, and 120 …

Incidence And Prevalence Of Keratoconus Based On Scheimpflug Imaging, Elsie Chan, Elaine W. Chong, Samantha Sze-Yee Lee, Maria Franchina, Seyhan Yazar, Peter Eastwood, Nigel Mcardle, David A. Mackey, Gareth Lingham

Articles

The prevalence of keratoconus (Belin/Ambrόsio Enhanced Ectasia Display Score ≥2.6 on Scheimpflug imaging) in a longitudinal, community cohort study from Western Australia was 3.4% (n=26/755). Keratoconus incidence over an 8-year period was 2.2% (n=15/669).

Eyecare Practitioner Reluctance To Fit Children With Contact Lenses, Claire E. Mcdonnell

Conference Papers

Purpose: Myopia control strategies in the form of contact lenses and spectacles have been commercially available to eyecare practitioners in the Republic of Ireland (RoI) since 2017 and 2021 respectively. The aim of this research was to determine the level of adoption of these strategies among independent eyecare practitioners in the RoI.

Methods: In order to establish the number of practices offering myopia control contact lenses, examination of independent practices’ websites was made to see whether or not they mentioned myopia control. Phone calls were made to practices identified in this way, to ascertain if they were actually offering myopia …