Sir John Ross Bt: the last lord Chancellor of Ireland 1921-1922

Sir John Ross was appointed Lord Chancellor of Ireland in 1921, being the last to hold that office with its abolition in 1922. Ross was born and raised in Londonderry, before proceeding to Trinity College, Dublin. Briefly an MP in the 1890s, Ross was chiefly interested in the law. Called to the Irish Bar in 1880, he took silk in 1891. His career as a Chancery barrister, and later a judge, led him to the Irish woolsack. As a result of the Government of Ireland Act 1920, his role as Lord Chancellor was very different to that of his predecessors. However, as Lord Chancellor he took no back seat role, hearing cases in the newly-established High Court of Appeal for Ireland up until his office was abolished. Ross also served as Speaker of the short-lived Senate of Southern Ireland. He retired to Northern Ireland where he died in 1935.<br/

Confinement, resistance and reclaiming space in JustUs’s Just a Prisoner’s Wife

Late twentieth century Belfast theatre played an important role in developing a working-class feminist response to the “Troubles”. While Bill McDonnell identifies the emergence of a hyper-local “Theatre of the Oppressed” in the city during the 1970s and 1980s, however, this feminist response “from below” is less explored. As the Peace Process emerged in the 1990s, companies like DubbelJoint and JustUs developed community plays that strove to unearth complex perspectives on women's experiences of colonial conflict. This chapter will discuss JustUs's seminal play, Just a Prisoner's Wife (1996), exploring how its sophisticated drama challenged both the criminalisation and androcentrism of republicanism.<br/

Oral health interventions and their effectiveness for dependent older adults: a systematic review of outcomes and outcome measures used in clinical research

ObjectivesTo identify oral health outcomes and outcome measures reported in studies examining oral health interventions among dependent older adults, as an initial step in the development of a core outcome set (COS).DataIntervention studies aimed at improving oral health of dependent older adults aged ≥60 years, residing in care homes, or at home, were included. The quality of included studies was evaluated using the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool (RoB 2) and Risk of Bias In non-randomized Studies of Interventions (ROBINS-I).SourcesMedline and Embase via Ovid, Cochrane CENTRAL, and Web of Science, up to August 2025Study selection and resultsEighty-four studies were included. Interventions were primarily classified into four categories: caregiver training and education (n = 21), oral healthcare interventions (n = 25), health professionals’ interventions (n = 31) and other interventions (n = 7). The reported outcomes and outcome measures varied considerably across studies and can be broadly grouped into six domains: oral hygiene, dentition status, periodontal status, oral mucosal status, overall oral health, and other outcomes. The most reported outcome was oral hygiene, with the Plaque Index being the most frequently used measure, followed by the Gingival Index. Other commonly reported outcome measures include Decayed, Missing, and Filled Teeth/Surfaces (DMFT/S), salivary levels of bacterial pathogens, and the Oral Health Assessment Tool (OHAT).ConclusionsThe outcomes and outcome measures reported across studies evaluating oral health interventions in dependent older adults were highly heterogenous. There is limited high-quality evidence in this area, highlighting the need for further research with robust study designs. The development and adoption of a COS would be valuable towards improving evidence-based dentistry and quality of care for this population.Clinical SignificanceFindings highlight the need for a COS to guide future research and ensure that outcomes are standardised and relevant to all stakeholders, and enable robust conclusions to inform clinical practice.<br/

Ballistic response of composite helmets engineered with cellular metamaterials

This study investigates the integration of cellular metamaterials into combat helmet systems under ballistic loading, with a focus on realistic helmet geometries and both direct and oblique impact conditions. As global conflict zones increasingly demand lightweight and high-performance protective gear for enhanced mobility and survivability, auxetic structures, particularly the double arrowhead (DAH) topology, demonstrated substantial improvements in head protection, reducing injury metrics such as peak linear acceleration and head injury criterion (HIC) by over 50% compared to non-auxetic designs. Cellular helmet pad systems, explored here for the first time, achieved comparable or superior impact mitigation while halving system weight. Detailed damage evolution analysis revealed that DAH structures exhibited more gradual and confined failure compared to re-entrant designs, further supporting their superior performance. These results offer valuable insights into the mechanics of impact resistance and set a new benchmark for the design of lightweight, high-performance protective equipment

'New' poetry of the Spanish golden age

What lyric poetry is and why it matters are questions that acquire a distinct complexion in different socio-historical contexts. This chapter casts a critical eye over lyric’s ‘new’ cartography in Imperial Spain, exploring ‘path-following’ as a master metaphor that accommodates the socio-political imperatives, theoretical underpinnings and evolving poetic practise of the period. The chapter has two over-arching objectives: to apprehend the individuating paths of Renaissance ‘new’ Italianate lyric in their relationship to a shared, collective, imaginary and to broader cultural practices; to attend to lyric’s foregrounding of language in all its material dimensions (thereby interrogating the “unique temporality” which Culler identified in lyric’s ‘special’ texturing). Analysis of the diverse lyric ‘events’ of language that were produced in the belated context of Spanish Renaissance humanism, will demonstrate how their transformative, self-making, properties, so effectively articulated the trauma of individual being, while also speaking to the anxieties of communal histories

Nanodrug therapy for salmonella biofilm disruption

Salmonella infections pose a significant global health threat, affecting millions of people each year. These infections can cause a range of illnesses, from mild gastroenteritis to severe systemic diseases, such as typhoid fever. Bacteria are particularly hazardous due to their ability to form biofilms, which provide a robust defense mechanism, making traditional antibiotic treatments largely ineffective. Biofilms, which are composed of bacterial cells and extracellular polymeric substances (EPSs), create a protective barrier that impedes the penetration of antibiotics, allowing bacteria to survive even under adverse conditions. The innovative use of nanomedicine therapeutics to address the persistent challenge of Salmonella biofilm infections is explored in this chapter. Various nanodrug strategies, including the use of metallic, polymeric, and lipid-based nanoparticles, have been investigated for their potential to penetrate and disrupt biofilm structures. The mechanisms by which nanoparticles enhance antibiotic delivery are also highlighted. This chapter emphasizes the role of nanotechnology in developing more effective treatments against multidrug-resistant Salmonella strains. This chapter also focuses on the urgent need for further research to find innovative solutions for combating persistent bacterial infections