Post-traumatic stress disorder and memory function in older adults exposed to civilian conflict: findings from the Northern Ireland Cohort for the Longitudinal Study of Ageing (NICOLA)

Research with veterans, refugees and other trauma-exposed groups has identified a link between post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and deficits in memory. This study sought to determine whether similar associations can be observed in a large, population-representative sample of older adults with high levels of exposure to conflict amongst older adults in Northern Ireland (NI). Using data from the Northern Ireland COhort for the Longitudinal study of Ageing (NICOLA), we assessed whether the presence of PTSD was associated with poorer performance on tasks of global cognition, immediate and delayed verbal recall, executive function, verbal fluency and two tests of prospective memory. Participants were 2142 community dwelling adults, resident in NI and aged 50 and over. The NI weighted prevalence of current PTSD was 4.74 %, which is high relative to other international estimates. Nearly 60 % of those with PTSD reported the NI Troubles as their self-reported worst traumatic exposure, despite the height of the conflict occurring decades before, suggesting long-term consequences of the civil conflict. Individuals with PTSD recalled approximately half a word less than those without on tests of verbal recall and scored lower on global cognitive assessments: Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), after accounting for sociodemographic characteristics. However, this effect was attenuated after further adjusting for health behaviours and current depression. The findings suggest an effect of trauma on cognitive function at a population level. Future research should explore the nature of this relationship over time.<br/

Five Point Check©-based management of goat health can be self-sustainable without long-term public funding: a 5-year retrospective study of Malawi smallholdings

Failure to manage goat nutrition or control gastrointestinal nematode parasites (GINs) can lead to low performance and livestock losses on smallholdings. Programs to improve smallholder goat health can have an immediate positive impact but often depend on external expertise and resources such as anthelmintic interventions. As a result, programs may fail to support smallholders once external resources, such as grant funding, are removed. With this in mind, a low-resource targeted-selective treatment (TST) program based on a hands-on Five Point Check© (FPC) scoring system was undertaken from 2020 to 2021 in rural Central Malawi. Participating smallholders were educated and equipped to perform goat health scoring and provide interventions on an as needed basis. In April 2025, five years after the study began, original participants were surveyed alongside control non-participants to determine the impact, uptake, and dissemination of TST using the FPC. 97.5 % of participants remembered the FPC and 73.8–92.9 % still used FPC tests on their goats. Practicing the FPC increased farmers’ confidence and success and decreased the likelihood of being impacted by disease or ill health. As a result of the FPC, targeted beneficial plant supplementation and anthelmintic use to treat sick goats was maintained among study participants. Non-study controls were unanimously in favour of using the FPC, but gaps exist in supporting dissemination of training and materials (such as FAMACHA cards and anthelmintic) to the wider smallholder community. Overall, this study shows that education and sustainable practices can be adopted and self-sustained in low-resource areas following initial investment.<br/

A systematic review of horticultural therapy and urban agriculture interventions targeting depression, anxiety, and acute stress disorder

Mental ill-health is a major concern in urban settings, particularly in relation to conditions such as depression, anxiety and acute stress disorder. Research has demonstrated the potential for horticultural therapy (HT) interventions that draw on urban agriculture practices and methods to address this issue. However, there is a paucity of evidence to support the potential for these interventions for individuals with pre-existing diagnoses. The aim of this systematic review was to address this gap in the literature by evaluating the efficacy of HT interventions as well as the methodologies employed in each study. We searched four bibliographic databases, and identified eleven studies for inclusion in the review, and reported generally favourable results: six studies reported improvements for depressive symptoms; three found that HT interventions mitigated stress; and two studies reported a positive influence on anxiety. Over two thirds of the included studies had either moderate (n = 6) or high (n = 2) risk of bias, and there was a high degree of methodological heterogeneity. In addition, the number of studies was small, therefore the generalisability of the findings is limited. Further research is needed to establish a robust causal link between HT interventions and improved mental health outcomes among populations with pre-existing diagnoses.<br/

Dacarbazine-loaded bilayer dissolving microneedle array patch for localized delivery in cutaneous melanoma

Melanoma is a highly aggressive skin cancer that accounts for only ~ 1% of all skin cancer cases but is responsible for most skin cancer-related deaths. Despite advances in systemic therapies, localized treatment options remain limited. Dacarbazine (DCB), the only FDA-approved chemotherapeutic agent for melanoma, is administered intravenously and is associated with systemic toxicity, poor patient compliance, and nonspecific drug distribution. This study presents a bilayer dissolving microneedle array patch (dMAP) for localized, minimally invasive delivery of DCB to the skin, offering a potential alternative for treating cutaneous melanoma. The tip-casting gel formulation was optimized to ensure sharp, defect-free MAP tips with uniform drug distribution. The optimized bilayer dMAP exhibited strong mechanical properties (&lt; 10% needle deformation) and effective insertion capability, reaching approximately 390 µm in depth within the Parafilm® M model. Ex vivo evaluations using full-thickness neonatal porcine skin demonstrated the complete dissolution of bilayer dMAP tips within 60 min and effective pore formation, as confirmed by methylene blue staining. In ex vivo setup, the bilayer dMAP formulation demonstrated 3.93-fold increase in permeability and a 3.02-fold increase in DCB deposition compared with those of the suspension. Furthermore, bilayer dMAP maintained complete drug stability over 8 days at room temperature under light-protected conditions, whereas free DCB showed approximately 7.5% degradation in aqueous media over the same duration. Therefore, bilayer dMAP provides a stable, minimally invasive, and efficient platform for localized drug delivery to the skin, highlighting its potential as a promising alternative to conventional topical formulations for the treatment of cutaneous melanoma.</p

“I wasn’t prepared for that”: UK social worker experiences of training in and knowledge of acquired brain injury

SummaryAcquired brain injury is a major cause of death and disability. Due to the impact of acquired brain injury on an individual's and a family's functioning, social workers are likely to encounter individuals and families affected by the condition. This study aimed to (1) identify the existing level of knowledge and skills of social workers in working with individuals with acquired brain injury and their families and (2) examine the training needs of social workers to improve their knowledge and skills in working with those with acquired brain injury. A series of semi-structured interviews with newly qualified social workers (six), brain injury specialist social workers (nine), team leaders (two), and commissioners (three) were conducted and analyzed using thematic analysis.FindingsThe data highlighted that social workers in England and Wales have no formal training around acquired brain injury but felt there was a need for different levels of training and guidance for social workers. Participants also discussed the need for better integration with health care and a greater focus on relational working to enact positive change for individuals and families.ApplicationsSocial work training should be embedded within prequalification training with additional postqualification training where appropriate. Work and training within social work should take an interdisciplinary approach. The authors have taken the data to develop a freely available online training program for social workers

First confirmation of mycobacterium tuberculosis complex from medieval Ireland by aDNA analysis – palaeopathological and microbial findings

Eight burials from the multi-period rural settlement site of Ranelagh near Roscommon town, Ireland, with palaeopathological lesions suggestive of skeletal tuberculosis or brucellosis were examined by ancient DNA (aDNA) testing. Tuberculosis infection (MTB complex DNA) was confirmed in five individuals –an 11th-13th CE adolescent female (14.5-17.5 years), two young adults females (18-35 years, 7th-10th CE), one adolescent of unknown sex and one middle-aged adult (35-50 years, medieval in date). In the latter case, the differential diagnosis included brucellosis due to the presence of small multifocal lytic lesions in the lower spinal vertebrae. However, this individual and all cases tested negative for Brucella species DNA. In two positive cases, lineage 4 (Euro-American) Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA was identified in extracts obtained from tooth pulp cavities. These are the first archaeological individuals from Ireland to have had tuberculosis infection confirmed through aDNA analysis.<br/

PyamilySeq: exposing the fragility of conventional gene (re)clustering and prokaryotic pangenomic inference methods

Pangenomics has become a central framework for exploring microbial diversity and evolution, enabling researchers to distinguish genes that define shared biological function from those that drive adaptation. However, this relies on clustering genes by sequence similarity, a process that is far less deterministic than often assumed. This study introduces PyamilySeq, a transparent and flexible toolkit designed to diagnose and quantify hidden biases within gene clustering and pangenome inference methodologies. Using PyamilySeq, we can see how clustering thresholds (often hard-coded and poorly documented) and paralog handling can substantially alter gene family composition. Surprisingly, even parameters unrelated to clustering, such as decimal precision (0.8 versus 0.80), output selection, and even CPU and memory allocation, can alter gene family assignments, challenging the assumption that identical clustering thresholds yield consistent results. Furthermore, tools often fail to report biologically meaningful or representative sequences for gene families, undermining downstream analyses. These findings reveal systematic fragilities in gene clustering and pangenome construction and highlight that pangenomics is not merely a data-driven task but a methodological one, where transparency, reproducibility, and interpretability are as critical as biological insight. This work calls for a re-evaluation of how pangenomes are constructed and compared, and advocates for methodologies that make their assumptions explicit and their results verifiable.<br/

Breathing life into AI – querying AI through tactile imprints using breath and sound

This chapter challenges the perception of Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a disembodied, mechanistic force that replaces human labour and creativity. It reframes AI as an entangled, co-creative system, shaped by human embodiment and sensory experiences. Drawing on perspectives from Suchman (2007), Berger (2005), Chrisley (2003), and Rocktäschel (2024), the chapter critiques reductionist views of AI and highlights its reciprocal relationship with human creative practices. A case study examines how traces of human presence are imprinted in sound recordings, Neural Audio Synthesis (NAS) outputs, and real-time embodied interactions with AI through RAVE (Caillon &amp; Esling, 2021), considering whether AI preserves or statistically flattens human presence. A practice research project in musical improvisation with NAS is presented, focusing on the duo of Franziska Schroeder (saxophone) and Federico Reuben (laptop improvisation/live coding). The project is discussed through a proposed dual-aspect model of embodied AI, comprising two interrelated concepts: embodied data and embodying data. This model provides a framework for understanding AI’s role in preserving human embodiment across creative domains. The chapter considers ethical, cultural, and economic challenges, advocating for an approach to AI that foregrounds embodiment and co-creativity to enhance rather than diminish human sensory experience

Network-orchestrated security protocol for the Internet of Drones in O-RAN

The rapid evolution of open radio access network (O-RAN) technology has produced many innovations and increased adoption of drones across various industries, including delivery systems, search and rescue, and surveillance. However, as the adoption of drones becomes more widespread, there is an increased likelihood of security breaches, which can be disastrous, particularly in disaggregated scenarios. Compromised communication channels can make drone communications vulnerable to attacks by an adversary, leading to sensitive data leaks or disruption of services. This paper examines the current approaches to solve this problem and their associated drawbacks, such as requiring computationally expensive cryptographic operations unsuitable for resource-constraint drones. Following this, an efficient and secure scheme is proposed that employs chameleon hash functions to enable mutual authentication and key agreement between user and drone that allows access to real-time information. To demonstrate the protocol’s resilience against known security attacks, both an informal and formal analysis utilising Tamarin have been presented. A proof of concept has been implemented to display the feasibility of the solution along with a comparison to the state-of-the-art approaches.<br/