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Resistance exercise intervention for lower leg vascular disease
No full textImplementation of a resistance exercise intervention into a healthy individuals daily routine is a challenge. The individual will undergo behavioural changes and will need to adapt or change their activities of daily living to compliment the new exercise intervention. Implementing an exercise intervention into the daily routine of an individual with a chronic progressive disease, such as intermittent claudication or chronic venous insufficiency, is more challenging. Continuous coaching, motivation and encouragement are needed particularly when participation in regular exercise may elicit painful or uncomfortable symptoms. This PhD thesis aims to highlight the importance of exercise intervention for lower leg vascular disease and to perform an in-depth and extensive review of existing exercise intervention protocols and devise a new evidence-based approach testing resistance (strength) exercise intervention for this population.
The majority of individuals with moderate intermittent claudication are given the ‘Go Home and Walk Advice’ (GHWA) which is also known as usual care. The ‘Go Home and Walk Advice’ encourages the patient to participate in regular daily walking to improve pain free walking distances by reaching their claudication pain point and walking a bit further past the pain threshold. This can result in reduced motivation and exercise participation because it is unenjoyable and painful for the patient. Therefore, there is a need for an alternative form of exercise for individuals with intermittent claudication to aid in improvement of health-related quality of life and functional walking ability.
The first phase of my PhD thesis is a detailed overview of systematic reviews focusing on the effect resistance exercise has on health-related quality of life in intermittent claudication; to date there has been no overview of systematic reviews observing this topic. From this overview I found that there is a gap in the current research regarding resistance exercise training and intermittent claudication and the effect it may have on health-related quality of life. I also concluded that there is a need for additional research observing the effect of alternative forms of exercise for individuals with moderate to severe intermittent claudication.
This led to the development of a vascular specific at home structured resistance exercise programme. The Strength From Within programme is a 12 week at home structured resistance exercise programme focusing on the improvement of whole-body strength. Included with the Strength From Within programme are walking protocols, range of motion exercises, warm-up, cool down and baseline measurements. Three subsequent clinical studies explored the acceptability, feasibility and physiological impact of the exercise intervention.
“Remote Ischemic Preconditioning in the Management of Intermittent Claudication: A Pilot Randomised Controlled Trial” was the initial study completed assessing the feasibility and acceptability of the Strength From Within exercise programme for individuals with moderate intermittent claudication when compared to remote ischemic preconditioning. From this I found that resistance training has the potential to be an effective method for symptom management for individuals with moderate intermittent claudication.
This led to “The Effect and Evaluation of Structured Resistance Exercise as a Treatment Option for Moderate Intermittent Claudication: A Pilot Study.” This focuses on the uptake, feasibility and acceptability of the Strength From Within programme for individuals with moderate intermittent claudication. The main findings from this present study was that the Strength From Within programme improved pain free walking distances and overall health status in individuals with moderate intermittent claudication.
The next phase explored comparing the Strength From Within exercise programme to a supervised walking programme. From this the clinical study “The Effect of Structured Resistance Exercise versus Supervised Walking for Patients with Intermittent Claudication: A Randomised Feasibility Trial” was conducted. This study focuses on the comparison of the Strength From Within programme to supervised walking. A walking programme was designed based on the recommended guidelines, such as Go Home and Walk advice, for individuals with moderate intermittent claudication. Two of the main findings from this present study was that the Strength From Within programme elicited similar results in improvement of functional walking ability when compared to supervised walking suggesting the Strength From Within programme has the potential to be an alternative form of exercise for individuals with moderate intermittent claudication.
The third study, “The Effect of Structured Resistance Exercise for Chronic Venous Insufficiency: A Feasibility Trial” implemented the Strength From Within programme in post-surgical individuals with chronic venous insufficiency or varicose veins. This present study assessed the feasibility and acceptability of the Strength From Within programme when implemented in a different lower leg vascular disease. Isokinetic testing was administered to assess lower leg strength after participation in the 12-week Strength From Within programme. The main finding of the present study was the improvement of upper muscular strength endurance and lower body muscular strength surrounding the knee and ankle in post-surgical individuals with chronic venous insufficiency
Towards Standardising Market-Independent Indicators for Quantifying Energy Flexibility in Buildings
No full textBuildings are increasingly being seen as a potential source of energy flexibility to the smart grid as a form of demand side management. Indicators are required to quantify the energy flexibility available from buildings, enabling a basis for a contractual framework between the relevant stakeholders such as end users, aggregators and grid operators. In the literature, there is a lack of consensus and standardisation in terms of approaches and indicators for quantifying energy flexibility. In the present paper, current approaches are reviewed and the most recent and relevant market independent indicators are compared through analysis of four different case studies comprising varying building types, climates and control schemes to assess their robustness and applicability. Of the indicators compared, certain indicators are found to be more suitable for use by the end user when considering energy and carbon dioxide emission reductions. Other indicators are more useful for the grid operator. The recommended indicators are found to be robust to different demand response contexts, such as type of energy flexibility, control scheme, climate and building types. They capture the provided flexibility quantity, its shifting efficiency and rebound effect. A final cost index is also recommended given specific market conditions to capture the cost of a building providing energy flexibility.European Commission Horizon 2020Science Foundation IrelandESIPP UCDNatural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canad
Extinction of over-selected stimuli causes emergence of under-selected cues in higher-functioning children with autistics spectrum disorders
No full textTwo experiments examined whether over-selectivity is the product of a post-acquisition performance deficit, rather than an attention problem. In both experiments, children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder were presented with a trial-and-error discrimination task using two, two-element stimuli and over-selected in both studies. After behavioral control by the previously over-selected stimulus was extinguished, behavioral control by the previously under-selected cue emerged without direct training. However, this effect was only found in higher-functioning children, and not with more severely impaired children. These findings suggest that over-selectivity is not simply due to a failure to attend to all of the stimuli presented. They also suggest that extinction of over-selected stimuli may be a fruitful line of intervention for clinical intervention for some individuals
‘Count me in’: The Irish Research Nurse Network (IRNN) national clinical research nurse/midwife workforce survey
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Comprehensive experimental and simulation study of the ignition delay time characteristics of binary blended methane, ethane, and ethylene over a wide range of temperature, pressure, equivalence ratio, and dilution
No full textA comprehensive experimental and kinetic modeling study of the ignition delay time (IDT) characteristics of some binary blends of C1–C2 gaseous hydrocarbons such as methane/ethylene, methane/ethane, and ethane/ethylene was performed over a wide range of composition (90/10, 70/30, 50/50%), temperature (∼800–2000 K), pressure (∼1–40 bar), equivalence ratio (∼0.5–2.0), and dilution (∼75–90%). An extensive literature review was conducted, and available data were extracted to create a comprehensive database for our simulations. Based on the existing literature data, an experimental matrix was designed using the Taguchi approach (L9) in order to identify and complete the experimental matrix required to generate a comprehensive experimental IDT set necessary for the validation of a chemical kinetic model. The required high- and low-temperature IDTs were collected using low-/high-pressure shock tubes and rapid compression machines, respectively. The predictions of NUIGMech1.0 are examined versus all of the available experimental data, including those taken in the current study using the IDT simulations and a correlation technique. Moreover, the individual effect of the studied parameters, including mixture composition, pressure, equivalence ratio, and dilution on IDT, is investigated over the studied temperature range. Correlations that were developed based on NUIGMech1.0 are presented for each specific blended fuel over the conditions studied. These correlations show an acceptable performance versus the experimental data.The authors would like to express their gratitude to Shell Research Ltd. and Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) for funding via project numbers 15/IA/3177 and 16/SP/3829. The authors from PCFC, RWTH Aachen University, would like to recognize the funding support from the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG) through the project number – 322460823 (HE7599/2-1).2021-06-0
The Lived Experience of Paradox: How Individuals Navigate Tensions during the Pandemic Crisis
No full textOrganizational life has always been filled with tensions, but the COVID-19 pandemic is amplifying this experience in fundamental ways. Across the globe, employees have had to quickly adjust to working from home, striving to remain productive while adapting to new technologies and work-practices (Lanzolla, Lorenz, Miron-Spektor, Schilling, Solinas & Tucci, 2020). Essential employees, such as medical personnel, have been grappling with the desire to deliver care to those with need without risking themselves (Kniffin et al., 2020). Leaders have been balancing optimism with realism and finding ways to engender psychological proximity despite managing their followers from afar (Gibson, 2020). These interconnected tensions have been accentuated not just within domains (e.g., work), but also across domains (Ladge, Clair & Greenber, 2012). Working parents, for example, have been renegotiating boundaries as they pursue their work goals while home-schooling their children and caring for their elderly relatives (Power, 2020)
Three years of intensive applied behavior analysis: A case study
No full textA 2 years and 10 months old child receiving an early intensive teaching program using the
Comprehensive Application of Behavior Analysis to Schooling (CABAS
®
) was taught using
evidence-based teaching strategies and curricula based on existing research in both the applied and
basic sciences. Progress was measured using behavioral assessment tools and mastery of pre-set
learning criteria . Independent measures in the form of psychological assessments were also
administered annually over a three year period. This paper will provide an overview of the learning
profile provided and the results achieved
Epigenetic regulation of germline stem cell fate by Centromere Protein C
No full textGermline stem cells (GSCs) divide asymmetrically to produce one new daughter stem cell and one daughter cell that will subsequently undergo meiosis and differentiate to generate the mature gamete. The ‘silent sister hypothesis’ proposes that in asymmetric divisions, the selective inheritance of sister chromatids carrying specific epigenetic marks between stem and daughter cells impacts cell fate. To facilitate selective sister chromatid segregation in stem cells, this hypothesis specifically proposes that the centromeric region of each sister chromatid is distinct. In Drosophila GSCs, it has recently been shown that the centromeric histone CENP-A - the epigenetic determinant of centromere identity - is asymmetrically distributed on sister chromatids. In these cells, CENP-A deposition occurs in G2 phase such that sister chromatids destined to end up in the stem cell harbour more CENP-A, assemble more kinetochore proteins and capture more spindle microtubules. These results suggest a potential mechanism of ‘mitotic drive’ that might bias chromosome segregation.
In this thesis, we report that the inner kinetochore protein CENP-C, which binds to centromeric chromatin, is required for the assembly of CENP-A in G2 phase in GSCs. Moreover, CENP-C is required to maintain a normal asymmetric distribution of CENP-A between stem and daughter cells. In addition, we show that CENP-A is gradually lost at the centromere of GSCs over time, with depletion of CENP-C accelerating this loss of CENP-A. Finally, we show that disruption to the centromeric core in GSCs disrupts the balance of stem and daughter cells in the ovary, shifting GSCs toward a self-renewal tendency. Ultimately, we provide evidence that centromere assembly and maintenance via CENP-C is required for efficient asymmetric division in female Drosophila GSCs
Error analysis of an L2-type method on graded meshes for a fractional-order parabolic problem
No full textAn initial-boundary value problem with a Caputo time derivative
of fractional order α ∈ (0, 1) is considered, solutions of which typically exhibit a
singular behaviour at an initial time. An L2-type discrete fractional-derivative
operator of order 3−α is considered on nonuniform temporal meshes. Sufficient
conditions for the inverse-monotonicity of this operator are established, which
yields sharp pointwise-in-time error bounds on quasi-graded temporal meshes
with arbitrary degree of grading. In particular, those results imply that milder
(compared to the optimal) grading yields optimal convergence rates in positive
time. Semi-discretizations in time and full discretizations are addressed. The
theoretical findings are illustrated by numerical experiments
Shaftesbury on Persons, Personal Identity and Character Development
No full textShaftesbury\u27s major work Characteristicks of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times was one of the most influential English works in the eighteenth century. This paper focuses on his contributions to debates about persons and personal identity and shows that Shaftesbury regards metaphysical questions of personal identity as closely connected with normative questions of character development. I argue that he is willing to accept that persons are substances and that he takes their continued existence for granted. He sees the need to supplement metaphysical debates of personal identity and believes that we have to turn to the character that is realized by a substance if we want to understand who we are. For Shaftesbury, persons have a particular character, can act and govern themselves. I propose that Shaftesbury\u27s approach to persons has a developmental dimension, which is meant to encourage personal development and improvement of character. The developmental dimension can be understood as an intellectual journey that invites us to search for our true self, to develop our character and to seek happiness, which ultimately involves understanding our place as persons in the order of the universe. I show that my developmental interpretation is preferable to other existing interpretations