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Outcomes of point-of-care testing for influenza in the emergency department of a tertiary referral hospital in Ireland
No full textBackground: Seasonal influenza causes significant morbidity and mortality, and represents a recurring financial burden for community- and hospital-based treatment. Nosocomial outbreaks exacerbate the impact of influenza. Rapid diagnosis of influenza has been shown to reduce transmission. However, point-of-care testing (POCT) in emergency departments and prudent direction of patients with the virus to reduce hospital-acquired infection (HAI) have not been evaluated widely. Aim: To assess performance characteristics of the Abbott ID NOW Influenza A & B 2 system, impact on incidence of hospital-acquired influenza, and admission rate ratio for patients who have POCT compared with laboratory testing. POCT was introduced in the 2018e2019 influenza season. Data from then were compared with preceding and subsequent seasons. Methods: Records of POCT and laboratory testing for the 2017e2018, 2018e2019, and 2019e2020 influenza seasons were analysed. Sensitivity and specificity of POCT were compared pairwise with Xpert Flu A/B/RSV. Patient admission rates and time of waiting for admission were compared. Findings: Compared to laboratory assay, POCT demonstrated sensitivity of 90.6% (95% confidence interval (CI): 78.6e96.5) and specificity of 99.2% (95.2e100) for influenza A, with 51.4% and 41.9% reductions in numbers of HAIs observed in the two seasons when POCT was available, respectively. The admission rate ratio for influenza cases diagnosed by POCT compared with laboratory diagnosis was 0.72 (95% CI: 0.53e0.97; P ¼ 0.031). Conclusion: POCT for influenza appears a feasible strategy for testing of patients during peak influenza virus season, with potential to reduce HAI. The relatively rapid turnaround time may also benefit clinical management of patients presenting at emergency departments with suspected influenza
Energy harvesting with peptide nanotube-graphene oxide flexible substrates prepared with electric field and wettability assisted self-assembly
No full textPiezoelectric diphenylalanine peptide nanotubes (PNTs) have recently been demonstrated in energy harvesting applications, typically based on vertically aligned PNTs that generate charge when pressed. In this work, we use a wettability difference and an applied electric field to align PNTs and PNT-based composites on flexible substrates. Open-circuit voltages and short-circuit currents exceeding 6 V and 60 nA, respectively, are achieved by bending the substrate, opening up the use of horizontally aligned PNTs as flexible energy harvesting substrates.European Commission Horizon 2020Science Foundation IrelandMinistry of Higher Education of Saudi ArabiaChina Scholarship CouncilNational Science Foundatio
Electric Field-Driven Catalytic Activity Using a Bioinspired Peptide and Titanium Dioxide Semiconductor Composite with Metal Nanoparticles
No full textHeterogeneous catalytic processes facilitated by the localized surface plasmon resonance excitation in plasmonic nanomaterials possess the potential to increase product yield and selectivity in a range of redox reactions beyond what is possible when using traditional catalysis-based approaches. In this article, we demonstrate electric field (that was generated by applying DC voltage)-driven redox catalysis (with and without UV irradiation) using plasmonic nanoparticles with a peptide nanotube/titanium dioxide hybrid semiconductor nanocomposite. The applied DC voltage reduces the bandgap of the peptide nanotubes, enabling control over the semiconductor–metal charge transfer rate. In the presence of the electric field, product formation from the hybrid semiconductor nanocomposite was c.a. 5 times faster than when using peptide nanotubes or titanium dioxide alone. The product formation was further enhanced in combination with UV irradiation with an overall 9-fold enhancement.Science Foundation Irelan
Nanoscale Piezoelectric Properties of Self-Assembled Fmoc-FF Peptide Fibrous Networks
No full textFibrous peptide networks, such as the structural framework of self-assembled fluorenylmethyloxycarbonyl diphenylalanine (Fmoc-FF) nanofibrils, have mechanical properties that could successfully mimic natural tissues, making them promising materials for tissue engineering scaffolds. These nanomaterials have been determined to exhibit shear piezoelectricity using piezoresponse force microscopy, as previously reported for FF nanotubes. Structural analyses of Fmoc-FF nanofibrils suggest that the observed piezoelectric response may result from the noncentrosymmetric nature of an underlying β-sheet topology. The observed piezoelectricity of Fmoc-FF fibrous networks is advantageous for a range of biomedical applications where electrical or mechanical stimuli are required.European Commission - European Regional Development FundEuropean Commission - Seventh Framework Programme (FP7)Science Foundation IrelandProgramme for Research in Third Level Institution
Closed form solutions for an anisotropic composite beam on a two-parameter elastic foundation
No full textBeams resting on elastic foundations are widely used in engineering design such as railroad tracks, pipelines, bridge decks, and automobile frames. Laminated composite beams can be tailored for specific design requirements and offer a desirable design framework for beams resting on elastic foundations. Therefore, the analysis of flexural behaviour of laminated composite beams on elastic foundations is of important consequence. Exact solutions for flexural deflection of composite beams with coupling terms between stretching, shearing, bending and twisting, resting on two-parameter elastic foundations for various types of loading and boundary conditions, are presented for the first time. The proposed new formulation is based on Euler–Bernoulli beam theory having four degrees of freedom, namely bending in two principal directions, axial elongation and twist.
Governing equations and boundary conditions are derived from the principle of virtual work and expressed in a compact matrix–vector form. By decoupling bending in both principal directions from twist and axial elongation, the fourth-order differential equation for bending is derived and transformed into a system of first-order differential equations. An exact solution of this system of equations is obtained using a fundamental matrix approach. Fundamental matrices for different configurations of elastic foundation are provided. The ability of the presented mathematical model in predicting flexural behaviour of beams on elastic foundations is verified numerically by comparison with results available in the literature. In addition, the deflection of anisotropic beams is analysed for different types of stacking sequences, boundary and loading conditions. The effect of elastic foundation coefficients on the flexural behaviour is also investigated and discussed
A water-stable functionalized NiCo-LDH/MOF nanocomposite: green synthesis, characterization, and its environmental application for heavy metals adsorption
No full textRemoval of toxic heavy metals from aquatic environments has become a major concern
due to environmental problems and the potential hazards and risks posed by them. Nowadays, the adsorption method as one of the most effective methods of removing pollutants has attracted increasing attention among chemists and environmental researchers. However, one of the challenges is to design and develop more effective adsorbents as well as to prepare them via greener and safer approaches. In line with these goals, a functionalized Ni50Co50-layered double hydroxide/UiO-66- (Zr)-(COOH)2 nanocomposite (LDH/MOF NC) was prepared via a facile and ‘‘green‘‘ synthesis protocol and used as an effective adsorbent for removal of mercury and nickel cations from aqueous media. UiO-66-(Zr)-(COOH)2 nanoparticles were in situ grown homogeneously over the surface of the functionalized two-dimensional ultrathin Ni50Co50-LDH sheets. A green organic-solvent-free route was used to prepare the LDH/MOF NC in which the water is used as a green solvent. The adsorption performance of LDH/MOF NC for removal of Hg(II) and Ni(II) cations was studied and the influence of some experimental factors, such as solution pH, initial metal concentration, and contact time, on the adsorption process were investigated. The theoretical maximum adsorption capacities based on the Langmuir isotherm were found to be 509.8 mg g 1 and 441.0 mg g 1
for Hg(II) and Ni(II), respectively, under constant conditions. We believe that the facile and
‘‘green” synthesis method used in this work can be a starting point for the fabrication and development of similar composite materials for future works, especially for use in adsorption, extraction, catalysis, and drug delivery applications
The impact of introducing nurse-led analgesia and sedation guidelines in ventilated infants following cardiac surgery
No full textIntroduction: Enhanced clinical outcomes in the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit following standardisation of analgesia and sedation practice are reported. Little is known about the impact of standardisation of analgesia and sedation practice including incorporation of a validated distress assessment instrument on infants post cardiac surgery, a subset of whom have Trisomy 21. This study investigated whether the parallel introduction of nurse-led analgesia and sedation guidelines including regular distress assessment would impact on morphine administered to infants post cardiac surgery, and whether any differences observed would be amplified within the Trisomy 21 population. Methodology: A retrospective single centre before/after study design was used. Patients aged between 44 weeks postconceptual age and one year old who had open cardiothoracic surgery were included. Results: 61 patients before and 64 patients after the intervention were included. After the intervention, a reduction in the amount of morphine administered was not evident, while greater use of adjuvant sedatives and analgesics was observed. Patients with Trisomy 21 had a shorter duration of mechanical ventilation after the change in practice. Conclusion: The findings from this study affirm the importance of the nurses’ role in managing prescribed analgesia and sedation supported by best available evidence. A continued education and awareness focus on analgesia and sedation management in the pursuit of best patient care is imperative.National Children\u27s Research Centr
The Impact of Self Help Groups on the Psychosocial Well-Being of Female Members in Ethiopia
No full textTearfund self-help groups are a variety of self-help group (SHG) aimed at poverty alleviation in Sub-Saharan Africa. Despite a number of positive evaluations of SHGs, there have been no direct studies of impact on psychosocial well-being. This paper reports the first phase of a mixed methods examination of the impact of Tearfund SHG membership on the psychosocial well-being of womens’ SHGs in Ethiopia. Five young SHGs ( 5 years) across self-evaluations and standardised scales while covarying for chronological age. These results were enriched by focus groups, semi-structured observations and structured interviews. Results showed that members of older SHGs reported statistically greater psychosocial well-being on 4/10 self-evaluated impact indices and 2/3 of the standardised scales. The younger vs older group differences are significant but small. A richer understanding of the impact is gained through the qualitative reports. Future studies will be strengthened by the addition of longitudinal data, through adjusting measures better to the culture, and through collecting baseline data from SHG initiation. This study provides extensive qualitative and quantitative evidence of the impact of Tearfund SHG membership on psychosocial well-being
The self at work: Understanding the experience of community placement in activation schemes in a post-recession context
No full textThis thesis aims to explain how long-term unemployed welfare recipients taking part in activation schemes made sense of their experiences of unemployment, job-seeking and placement as they deliberated their past, present and future aspirations sustained by an ongoing tension between contextual and internal change. This study focuses on activation schemes that demand from welfare recipients 19.5 hours per week in a local voluntary and not-for-profit organisation. The thesis used a Constructivist Grounded Theory approach to guide an inductive process of constructing an explicative framework grounded on and in interaction with the data co-constructed by the researcher and research participants. Thirty scheme participants ? whose age ranged between 28 and 64? participated in in-depth interviews across two counties in Ireland. Irish literature on activation reforms, welfare conditionality and the precarisation of the labour market has been increasing; however, little is known about the specific realm of community placement schemes and participants? experiences and aspirations. Hence, this thesis offers an original contribution on the experiences of unemployment and job seeking in a post-recession context that, as the findings showed, meant particular challenges for those closer to retirement age, those with health issues, those skilled in less required positions or with little work experience, and those who have been focused on care responsibilities.
The principal contribution of the thesis is a conceptual framework of the experience of placement from the stance of agential reflexivity as participants pondered their possibilities and constraints to project into the future amidst contextual and internal changes. This framework relates to central processes concerning identity, self and future thinking which are shaped by gender and age. Going through long- term unemployment meant changing by losing as participants? disconnection with work as a source of identity, deepened. During this process participants acquired a multifaceted identity, in interaction with institutional demands, that challenged their sense of self: becoming unemployed meant becoming a welfare recipient who was demanded to become an active jobseeker who, despite their efforts, failed to secure a job. Underpinned by the placement period, the process of changing through regaining, made accessible the volunteer-like identity ascribed to the local organisations through which new possibilities appeared to be available and, thus, future thinking re-emerged as participants deliberated courses of action. Men and women expressed different attachment to work as a source of identity, social recognition and future aspirations. While older men longed for the stability of their past working selves, women were oriented towards their future working selves as a project for a renewed identity beyond the realm of care. Largely, participants considered prolonging their time on the scheme or moving on to a second scheme as their first (most realistic / desirable) option