NUI Maynooth Eprint Archive
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“The effects of cancer on a family are way beyond the person who's had it”: The experience and effect of a familial cancer diagnosis on the health behaviours of family members
No full textPurpose
People who are first-degree relatives of cancer patients are at an increased risk of developing cancer themselves. Despite this, relatives of cancer patients do not always make beneficial changes to their health behaviours. This study aimed to answer the following questions: (1) do the health behaviours of people who are first-degree relatives of cancer survivors change following cancer diagnosis, and if so, how, and why, (2) what motivations/barriers exist for first-degree relatives when seeking to engage with health promoting behaviours, and (3) what do first-degree relatives believe healthcare organisations can do to improve uptake of healthy lifestyle changes.
Method
Nine biological first-degree relatives of cancer survivors living in Ireland (6 children, 2 siblings, 1 parent) participated in semi-structured interviews which were later thematically analysed.
Results
Findings revealed four superordinate themes: Being Conscious/Aware, Limited Lifestyle Changes, Psychosocial Consequences of Experience, and Unmet Needs, with each of these themes having two to three subordinate themes. Patient and public involvement emphasised Unmet Needs, including needs for information and family support, as the theme that was most reflective of participants’ lived experience.
Conclusions
Results suggest that while family members tend not to change their lifestyle behaviours following cancer diagnosis, they do seem to make changes to their medical behaviours. Additionally, they can be negatively impacted by the experience in several other ways. Identifying means of support will allow relatives to cope better post diagnosis
Comparing the network structure of ICD-11 PTSD and complex PTSD in three African countries
No full textBackground
Symptom network analysis has become an essential tool for researchers and clinicians investigating the structure of mental disorders. Two methods have been used; one relies on partial correlations, and the second relies on zero order correlations with forced-directed algorithm. This combination was used to examine symptom connections for ICD-11 Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Complex PTSD (CPTSD) as the symptoms for these disorders have been known to be organized in a multi-dimensional and hierarchical fashion. We aimed to examine whether networks of ICD-11 CPTSD symptoms reproduced across samples from three African countries.
Methods
We produced network models based on data from 2524 participants in Nigeria (n = 1018), Kenya (n = 1006), and Ghana (n = 500). PTSD and CPTSD symptoms were measured using the International Trauma Questionnaire (Cloitre et al., 2018).
Results
The CPTSD network analysis using force-directed method alongside partial correlations based on Gaussian Graphical Models (GGM) revealed the multidimensional-hierarchal structure of CPTSD. The within-cluster symptoms of Disturbances in Self Organization (DSO) and PTSD were strongly correlated with each other in all networks, and the cross-cluster symptoms were lower. The most central symptom was ‘feelings of worthlessness’, a symptom of Negative Self-Concept that is part of the CPTSD cluster. The networks were very similar across the three countries.
Conclusions
Findings support the ICD-11 model of PTSD and CPTSD in three African countries
Patterns of childhood adversity and their associations with internalizing and externalizing problems among at-risk boys and girls
No full textBackground: Different types of childhood adversity often cluster and overlap, underlining the
importance of studying likely patterns of adversity co-occurrences and their impact on child
functioning. Further sex-specific investigations of adversity co-occurrences and their associations
with child mental health are warranted.
Objective: To investigate if different sex-specific patterns of childhood adversity exist among at
risk-children living in Denmark and to explore if divergent constellations of adversity are
differentially associated with externalizing and internalizing problems.
Participants and setting: Participants (N = 2198) were a sample of children ages 1–17 who have
been in contact with the Danish child protection system due to suspected child abuse. The study
included existing data collected as a part of child case procedures.
Method: Latent class analysis was used to identify patterns of adversity co-occurrences among girls
and boys, respectively. Inter-class differences on age and child mental health were assessed using
ANOVAs.
Results: Greater variation and complexity in adversity exposure was found among girls (5 classes)
compared to boys (3 classes). The female classes differed on age (p < .001, η2 = 0.06), internalizing (p < .001, η2 = 0.05), and externalizing problems (p = .002, η2 = 0.02). The male classes
differed on internalizing (p < .001, η2 = 0.02) and externalizing problems (p < .001, η2 = 0.04).
Overall, classes characterized by multiple adversities displayed higher scores of mental health
problems compared to less exposed classes
A palaeoclimate proxy database for water security planning in Queensland Australia
No full textPalaeoclimate data relating to hydroclimate variability over the past millennia have a vital contribution
to make to the water sector globally. the water industry faces considerable challenges accessing
climate data sets that extend beyond that of historical gauging stations. Without this, variability
around the extremes of floods and droughts is unknown and stress-testing infrastructure design and
water demands is challenging. User-friendly access to relevant palaeoclimate data is now essential, and
importantly, an efficient process to determine which proxies are most relevant to a planning scenario,
and geographic area of interest. this paper presents PalaeoWISE (Palaeoclimate Data for Water
Industry and Security Planning) a fully integrated, and quality-assured database of proxy data extracted
from data repositories and publications collated in Linked Paleo Data (LiPD) format. We demonstrate
the application of the database in Queensland, one of australia’s most hydrologically extreme states.
The database and resultant hydroclimate correlations provides both the scientific community, and
water resource managers, with a valuable resource to better manage for future climate changes
Artificial Intelligence for UAV-Enabled Wireless Networks: A Survey
No full textUnmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are considered as one of the promising technologies for the next-generation wireless communication networks. Their mobility and their ability to establish line of sight (LOS) links with the users made them key solutions for many potential applications. In the same vein, artificial intelligence (AI) is growing rapidly nowadays and has been very successful, particularly due to the massive amount of the available data. As a result, a significant part of the research community has started to integrate intelligence at the core of UAVs networks by applying AI algorithms in solving several problems in relation to drones. In this article, we provide a comprehensive overview of some potential applications of AI in UAV-based networks. We also highlight the limits of the existing works and outline some potential future applications of AI for UAVs networks
Changes in PTSD, depression, and generalized anxiety before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ireland
No full textBackground: : In this study, we compared the prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and
generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) before and during the COVID-19 pandemic across nationally representative
samples of Irish adults.
Methods: : Participants were sampled in February 2019 (N = 1,020), April 2020 (N = 1,041), May 2020 (N =
1,032), and December 2020 (N = 1,100) using the same self-report measures.
Results: : The prevalence of PTSD significantly increased from 12.5% in 2019 to 18.0% in April 2020, to 22.0% in
May, and returning to 17.6% in December 2020. PTSD increases were most consistently observed in males, those
aged 18–34 years, those without a university qualification, and those living in the Leinster region of Ireland,
where the capital city of Dublin is located. There were no significant changes in the prevalence of depression or
GAD.
Limitations: : The 2020 samples were not completely independent of one another and while the analysis took this
into account, this bias cannot be completely removed.
Conclusions: : These findings show an increase in PTSD during the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic
compared to the pre-pandemic period and suggest specificity in mental health responses to the COVID-19
pandemic
Generation and characterisation of a semi-synthetic siderophore-immunogen conjugate and a derivative recombinant triacetylfusarinine C–specific monoclonal antibody with fungal diagnostic application
No full textInvasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) is a severe life-threatening condition. Diagnosis of fungal disease in general, and especially that caused by Aspergillus fumigatus is problematic. A. fumigatus secretes siderophores to acquire iron during infection, which are also essential for virulence. We describe the chemoacetylation of ferrated fusarinine C to diacetylated fusarinine C (DAFC), followed by protein conjugation, which facilitated triacetylfusarinine C (TAFC)-specific monoclonal antibody production with specific recognition of the ferrated form of TAFC. A single monoclonal antibody sequence was ultimately elucidated by a combinatorial strategy involving protein LC-MS/MS, cDNA sequencing and RNAseq. The resultant murine IgG2a monoclonal antibody was secreted in, and purified from, mammalian cell culture (5 mg) and demonstrated to be highly specific for TAFC detection by competitive ELISA (detection limit: 15 nM) and in a lateral flow test system (detection limit: 3 ng), using gold nanoparticle conjugated- DAFC-bovine serum albumin for competition. Overall, this work reveals for the first time a recombinant TAFC-specific monoclonal antibody with diagnostic potential for IPA diagnosis in traditional and emerging patient groups (e.g., COVID-19) and presents a useful strategy for murine Ig sequence determination, and expression in HEK293 cells, to overcome unexpected limitations associated with aberrant or deficient murine monoclonal antibody production
Cutting the line: manipulation of plant immunity by bacterial type III effector proteases
No full textPathogens and their hosts are engaged in an evolutionary arms race. Pathogen-derived effectors promote virulence
by targeting components of a host’s innate immune system, while hosts have evolved proteins that sense effectors
and trigger a pathogen-specific immune response. Many bacterial effectors are translocated into host cells using
type III secretion systems. Type III effector proteases irreversibly modify host proteins by cleavage of peptide bonds
and are prevalent among both plant and animal bacterial pathogens. In plants, the study of model effector proteases has yielded important insights into the virulence mechanisms employed by pathogens to overcome their host’s
immune response, as well as into the mechanisms deployed by their hosts to detect these effector proteases and
counteract their effects. In recent years, the study of a larger number of effector proteases, across a wider range of
pathogens, has yielded novel insights into their functions and recognition. One key limitation that remains is the lack
of methods to detect protease cleavage at the proteome-wide level. We review known substrates and mechanisms of
plant pathogen type III effector proteases and compare their functions with those of known type III effector proteases
of mammalian pathogens. Finally, we discuss approaches to uncover their function on a system-wide level
A weighted fuzzy approach for green marketing risk assessment: Empirical evidence from dairy industry
No full textThe green marketing concept encompasses the consumers' perception and response to the green initiatives and activities that companies implement such as design for environment, green production systems and processes development, and green improvements in packaging. Despite the growing interest in the green marketing domain, few studies have been carried out on the risk assessment of green marketing implementation, especially in the dairy industry. In this study, using a developed integrated fuzzy decision-making methodology, the green marketing risk factors in the dairy industry are assessed. Firstly, the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process is used for weighting the identified risk assessment criteria. Then, a weighted fuzzy inference system is proposed for green marketing risk assessment. Finally, risk mitigation strategies are proposed to deal with the highly ranked risk factors. This research study fills the gaps in the literature by (1) proposing a comprehensive list of green marketing risk factors in the dairy industry, (2) developing a novel weighted fuzzy inference system approach for assessing those risk factors, and (3) providing a final ranking of the dairy industry risk factors together with risk mitigation strategies for the highly ranked risk factors. The level of environmental awareness in society was found as the most important risk factor followed by governmental policies, rules, and regulations for supporting green products risk factors. Finally, some remarks are concluded together with presenting the future works
Education, Contact and the Vitality of Touch: Membranes, Morphologies, Movements
No full textThis paper explores how touch is key to understanding education--not as an achievement or an instrument of acquisition, but as a process through which one becomes a subject capable of both living and leading a life that matters for ourselves and others. As a process, it is concerned with how we encounter things and others in the world and not solely with what we encounter. In particular, it argues that the dynamics of touch-as both a touching and being touched by-are central for understanding educational encounters as sensory landscapes of contact. This paper turns first to Aristotle's understanding of touch as central to life itself in order to contemplate how it is not merely one of the senses but signifies as the primary mode of all bodily contact with the world. This vital aspect will then be examined in relation to the specific ways bodies experience contact, through their membranes, morphological make up and their movements. Here, I draw on a number of philosophers and theorists, such as Maxine Sheets-Johnstone, Juhani Pallasmaa and Erin Manning, and a recent art installation The Boarding School by Sisters Hope to demonstrate how bodies matter to the very practices of education. I conclude with some thoughts on what morphologies, membranes and movements can specifically offer to a sensuous understanding of education