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Robot-Driven Locomotor Perturbations Reveal Synergy- Mediated, Context-Dependent Feedforward and Feedback Mechanisms of Adaptation
No full textHumans respond to mechanical perturbations that affect their gait by changing their motor control strategy. Previous work indicates that adaptation during gait is context dependent, and perturbations altering long-term stability are compensated for even at the cost of higher energy expenditure. However, it is unclear if gait adaptation is driven by unilateral or bilateral mechanisms, and what the roles of feedback and feedforward control are in the generation of compensatory responses. Here, we used a robot-based adaptation paradigm to investigate if feedback/feedforward and unilateral/bilateral contributions to locomotor adaptation are also context dependent in healthy adults. A robot was used to induce two opposite unilateral mechanical perturbations affecting the step length over multiple gait cycles. Electromyographic signals were collected and analyzed to determine how muscle synergies change in response to perturbations. The results unraveled different unilateral modulation dynamics of the muscle-synergy activations during adaptation, characterized by the combination of a slow-progressive feedforward process and a fast-reactive feedback-driven process. The relative unilateral contributions of the two processes to motor-output adjustments, however, depended on which perturbation was delivered. Overall, these observations provide evidence that, in humans, both descending and afferent drives project onto the same spinal interneuronal networks that encode locomotor muscle synergies.Enterprise IrelandEuropean Commission Horizon 2020Science Foundation IrelandInsight Research CentreGerman Federal Ministry of Research and EducationBavarian Ministry of Economic AffairsEuropean Space AgencyGerman Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and EnergyNational Institutes of Health (NIH
Variation of average coordination number with liquid fraction for two-dimensional foams with finite contact angle
No full textWe present Surface Evolver computer simulations for two-dimensional (2d) foams in which the contact angle at which liquid films and Plateau borders meet is non-zero. We determine the average coordination number Z of bubbles over a wide range of finite contact angles θ and liquid fractions ϕ. We find a linear scaling of Z for values of ϕ between about 0.07 and 0.15, corroborating previous data obtained for the case of zero contact angle. The results highlight the importance of attractive bubble interactions for 2d foams
A comparative archaeological review of the late prehistoric \u27royal site\u27 of Rathcroghan
No full text[No abstract available]Not peer reviewe
A qualitative evaluation of community and acute hospital nursing oncology services in Ireland
No full textPurpose: Cancer patients are a particularly vulnerable population group, facing an increase in physical, mental, logistical and financial difficulties. This, as well as Ireland\u27s increased focus on primary care with the Sláintecare health plan, led to the development of the Community Oncology Nursing Programme, where community nurses are trained to provide cancer care in the community. This paper sought to explore the lived experiences of the patients and nurses involved in this programme in order to examine its impact as well as determine facilitators and roadblocks for future development. Methods: A qualitative examination of the service was carried out by interviewing cancer patients receiving care as part of the programme as well as the nurses delivering care, both in the community and hospital day-ward. Thematic analysis was used. Results: Themes of improved patient experience, nurse-patient relationship, the importance of location and roadblocks to further implementation of the programme emerged. There was a universal belief that the programme offered benefits to the patient and improved their care in some manner. Conclusions: The Community Oncology Nursing Programme has been well received by both nurses and patients. The service provided by community nurses as part of this programme offers benefits to patients and an improved cancer service
Challenging behaviour, Non Violent Resistance (NVR) and parents/carers in a time of COVID 19
No full textThirteen year old Marie s parents (not her real name), rang their social worker as their daughter s behaviour had worsened since the COVID 19 pandemic closed schools and their workplaces. Marie was fighting with them much more, saying her parents were crazy and it was alltheir fault . As they spoke, Marie s parents described feelings of hopelessness and helplessness as their daughter had, over the last few months, begun to use alcohol (and they suspected, drugs), gone missing from school and had broken a door and windows at home. Marie had beaten up her young brother, had pushed her parents around and threatened them with physical violence. They could not understand how Marie, who had been pleasant, happy, out-going and close to her parents, could change so much and treat them so badly. They felt there was nothing they could do. They felt at a loss and initially, their social worker felt the same way. Experiences within the family of this kind of behaviour (also known as child to parent violence and abuse, CPVA) are surrounded with a veil of silence, with embarrassment, shame and fear (Coogan & Holt 2015, Coogan 2018, Bonnick 2019). This makes it very difficult for a parent/ carer to start a conversation about CPVA. But reaching out and talking is always a good first step, even though that first step is always very hard. For the people who work with families, like social workers and family support workers, psychologists and psychiatrists, listening to parents or carers talking about these experiences is always a good start. And as more parents began to talk about being afraid of their son or daughter to us and other practitioners who listen and work with parents and families around Ireland, they tell us that listening without judgement is really very important to them. But what can we do together to end the use of abusive and/or violent behaviour by some children and young people towards their parents?Peer reviewe
Progress toward the clinical application of mesenchymal stromal cells and other disease-modulating regenerative therapies
No full textDrawing from basic knowledge of stem cell biology, embryonic development, wound healing and aging, regenerative medicine seeks to develop therapeutic strategies that complement or replace conventional treatments by actively repairing diseased tissue or generating new organs and tissues. Among the various clinical translational strategies within the field of regenerative medicine, several can be broadly described as promoting disease resolution indirectly through local or systemic interactions with a patient s cells without permanently integrating or directly forming new primary tissue. In this review, we focus on such therapies, which we term disease modulating regenerative therapies (DMRT), and on the extent to which they have been translated into the clinical arena in four distinct areas of nephrology: renovascular disease (RVD), sepsis-associate acute kidney injury (SA-AKI), diabetic kidney disease (DKD) and kidney transplantation (KTx). As we describe, the DMRT that has most consistently progressed to human clinical trials for these indications is mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs), which potently modulate ischemic, inflammatory, pro-fibrotic and immune-mediated tissue injury through diverse paracrine mechanisms. In KTx, several early-phase clinical trials have also tested the potential for ex vivo-expanded regulatory immune cell therapies to promote donor-specific tolerance and prevent or resolve allograft injury. Other promising DMRT, including adult stem/progenitor cells, stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles and implantable hydrogels/biomaterials remain at varying pre-clinical stages of translation for these renal conditions. To date (2021), no DMRT has gained market approval for use in patients with RVD, SA-AKI, DKD or KTx and clinical trials demonstrating definitive, cost-effective patient benefits are needed. Nonetheless, exciting progress in understanding the disease-specific mechanisms of action of MSCs and other DMRT, coupled with increasing knowledge of the pathophysiological basis for renal tissue injury and the experience gained from pioneering early-phase clinical trials provide optimism that impactful, regenerative treatments for diverse kidney diseases will emerge in the years ahead.LJH is supported by grants from Regenerative Medicine Minnesota (grant number RMM
091718), the National Institute of Health (NIH) (grant numbers DK109134 and DK123492),
and NIDDK Diabetic Complications Consortium (RRID:SCR_001415, www.diacomp.org;
grant numbers DK076169 and DK115255).
SMH is supported by the NIH (grant number DK118120) and by a Mary Kathryn and Michael
B. Panitch Career Development Award.
MDG is supported by grants from the European Commission [Horizon 2020 Collaborative
Health Project NEPHSTROM (grant number 634086) and FP7 Collaborative Health Project
VISICORT (grant number 602470)], from Science Foundation Ireland [REMEDI Strategic
Research Cluster (grant number 09/SRC-B1794; MDG) and CÚRAM Research Centre
(grant number 13/RC/2073; MDG)] and the European Regional Development Fund
The application of deep learning on depth from multi-array camera
No full textConsumer-level multi-array cameras are a key enabling technology for next generation smartphones imaging systems. The present paper aims to analyze the accuracy of the depth estimation while using different camera combinations in a multi-array camera. This is done by providing a framework of deep neural networks to determine depth map from a sequence of images captured by a multi-array camera. Capturing depth information enables users to perform a range of post-capture edits such as refocusing, and creating a 3D model of any scene. Thus it is essential to calculate an accurate depth map while using the minimum computational resources.The research work presented here was funded under the
Strategic Partnership Program of Science Foundation Ireland
(SFI) and co-funded by SFI and FotoNation Ltd. Project ID:
13/SPP/I2868 on “Next Generation Imaging for Smartphone
and Embedded Platforms”
Deep learning for hand segmentation in complex backgrounds
No full textThis paper presents a Deep Learning segmentation approach for hand segmentation in gray level images with cluttered backgrounds where standard techniques cannot be used. Two networks were trained with a database of hand images derived from widely used palmprint image databases, Hong Kong Polytechnic University (HKPU) and Chinese Academy of Science (CASIA). The image dataset is augmented with complex patterns and used to train and test the Neural Networks, providing promising results
Examining the Linkages between Local Food Economies and Household Nutrition in Rural Tanzania
No full textTanzania, a low-income country with high dependence on agricultural activities, has a large number of poor people who mostly reside in rural areas and are faced with food insecurity and malnutrition. Even with the increase in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the share of agriculture to GDP has continued to decline and income distribution remains poor. The challenge of food security has meant that Tanzania has a score of 28.8 in the 2017 Global Hunger index and the number of undernourished people has continued to increase. The local food economy in Tanzania plays a great role in influencing incomes and food security of rural households, and therefore it is important to examine the linkage between local food economies and household food security and nutrition. This study was conducted in two districts of Tanzania that have different agro-ecological and economic conditions, Kishapu in the Shinyanga Region and Mvomero in the Morogoro Region and examined the factors within the local food economy that affect household food security status. These districts were selected basing on nutritional vulnerability, lack of nutritional interventions and differences in rain patterns, farming practices and economic activities. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected in two phases (before and after harvest) using household surveys in 2014 with the aid of structured questionnaires from 506 households as well as monthly market price surveys in 2014. Also, key informant interviews and focus group discussions were used to collect qualitative data. Four income quartiles were identified from the income data as well as four farming systems from the crop and livestock production data. Households in Mvomero had higher incomes, better market access, diversified income sources and better food security. Diet costs, influenced by price and seasons, impacted lower income households resulting to poor diet choices and more food insecurity. Households also had fewer means of coping with food and income shortages and would resort to consuming less or selling livestock and borrowing. Policies and strategies to improve farm production and farm incomes, improve market access, increase non-farm opportunities have meaningful implications for low-income rural households. These may include initiatives to improve transport and communications infrastructures, access to credit and market information, as well as nutritional education to households.Higher Education AuthorityIrish Ai
Prevalence and impact of dysmenorrhea among University students in Ireland
No full textAbstract
Objective
Primary dysmenorrhea (PD), or painful menstruation, is a common gynaecological condition that can cause intense pain and functional disability in women of reproductive age. As a non-malignant condition, PD is relatively under-studied and poorly managed. The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence and impact of PD among third-level students in Ireland.
Design
Cross-sectional observational study.
Methods
Students (N = 892; age range = 18–45) completed an online survey on menstrual pain characteristics, pain management strategies, pain interference, and pain catastrophizing.
Results
The prevalence of PD was 91.5% (95% Confidence Interval = 89.67–93.33). Non-pharmacological management strategies were most popular (95.1%); of these, heat application (79%), rest (60.4%), hot shower/bath (40.9%), and exercise (25.7%) were most common. Perceived effectiveness of these methods varied between participants. Analgesic use was also common (79.5%); of these, paracetamol was most used (60.5%) despite limited perceived effectiveness. Pain catastrophizing was a significant predictor of variance in both pain intensity and pain interference scores such that those with higher pain catastrophizing scores reported more intense pain and greater interference with daily activities and academic demands.
Conclusions
This article presents the first investigation into PD among third-level students in Ireland. Poorly managed menstrual pain may impact functional ability across several domains. Future research should focus on improving menstrual pain management education and support, and promoting menstrual health literacy for women affected by PD.2022-04-0