RESTORING BRITAIN: PERFORMANCES OF STUART SUCCESSION IN DUBLIN, EDINBURGH, AND LONDON

Though much worthy scholarship exists about English Restoration theatre, few studies examine the intersections between theatrical activity in London and its British “sister” cities of Dublin and Edinburgh and the stakes of Stuart restoration and British union for all three kingdoms expressed through theatre and performance. This dissertation is a historiographical reconfiguration of the Restoration period that analyzes how theatre and performance in Dublin, Edinburgh, and London contributed to Charles II’s reestablishment of Stuart rule and British union. My project brings together new British history and performance studies to uncover the British theatrical and cultural performances that re-defined union during Charles II’s restoration. I examine Stuart succession through three case-studies: beheadings, Shakespeare adaptations, and the actress. I analyze beheadings as performance events that map a history of Stuart succession through the triple beheadings of Charles I and his Irish and Scottish viceroys. Through their speeches on the scaffold, Charles I and his viceroys made themselves enduring symbols of Stuart monarchy. Charles II then reestablished execution as a royal power, executing and publicly displaying the corpses of the regicides. He highly regulated performances of execution in the theatre, however, especially plays that restaged royal executions from British history. I then examine the ways in which Shakespeare adaptations interrogated past and present British union through plays that betrayed the tensions between the three kingdoms. I consider adaptation a practice shared by Charles II and playwrights, both invested in restoring Britain’s cultural past. Through their adaptations, theatre artists created Shakespeare into an origin myth of the English theatre. Lastly, I argue that Charles II’s introduced the professional actress on the public stage as a surrogate of two past traditions of female performance, the boy actor and the female courtier, who served his agenda to provide his British subjects with public access to himself and his court. Charles II revived Britannia, the female personification of Britain, to capitalize on the popularity of public female performance and create public support and ownership over the reunited Britain

Atlantic Ocean Observing Networks: Cost and feasibility study

Results of a cost and feasibility study of the present and planned integrated Atlantic Ocean Observing System, including assessing the readiness and feasibility of implementation of different observing technologie

Joint effort among research infrastructures to quantify the impact of plastic debris in the ocean

Marine debris is one of the most significant problems facing the marine environment, endangering wildlife, polluting oceans and is an issue which holds global significance. Plastics constitute a large proportion of marine debris, and their persistence can cause a number of negative consequences for biota and the environment, including entanglement and ingestion, which can lead to mortality. Most plastics never biodegrade and instead break down into smaller pieces which are more difficult to monitor and eventually become so small (micro and nanoplastics), that they are challenging to observe or intercept in the ocean. Marine-based Research Infrastructures (RIs) monitor several environmental parameters and are situated around the globe; however, none of these are routinely monitoring marine debris or plastics. Currently, the only infrastructures in place with regard to marine debris are 'physical debris interception infrastructure' in the form of barriers constructed to prevent marine debris from entering the ocean. Several knowledge gaps and restraints exist within current in situ infrastructure including technological immaturity, diverse methodologies and lack of data harmonisation. Nevertheless, marine RIs could monitor microplastics within the water column on a long-term basis and initial steps towards developing technology are promising.publishedVersio

Near-patient environmental contamination of an intensive care unit with Vancomycin-resistant Enterococci (VRE) and Extended-Spectrum Beta-Lactamase-Producing Enterobacteriaceae (ESBL-E) before and after the introduction of chlorhexidine bathing for patients.

In the intensive care unit (ICU), prior room contamination by patients with, for example, vancomycin-resistant Enterococci (VRE), and extended-spectrum β-lactamase–producing Enterobacteriaceae (ESBL-E) is predictive for the acquisition of infections. However, while daily chlorhexidine bathing reduces infection rates due to multidrug-resistant pathogens, the effect of this practice on environmental contamination rates are largely unknown. Surveillance of the healthcare environment is usually only conducted in response to outbreaks along with other infection prevention and control (IPC) investigations and interventions. This is largely due to resource constraints, the transient nature of environmental contamination, low yields from environmental screening, and culture delays, all of which preclude rapid decision making based on these results. In an observational study in a 12-bed adult medical/surgical ICU during non-outbreak periods, we assessed the overall bacterial contamination of near-patient surfaces of occupied beds, including VRE and ESBL-E, before and after the introduction of a chlorhexidine bathing protocol.</p

Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci (VRE) in The Intensive Care Unit in a Nonoutbreak Setting: Identification of Potential Reservoirs and Epidemiological Associations Between Patient and Environmental VRE.

OBJECTIVE Among nosocomial bloodstream infections caused by enterococcal species, Ireland has the highest proportion caused by vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) in Europe at 45.8%. The contribution of the near-patient environment to VRE transmission outside of outbreaks was investigated. DESIGN A prospective observational study was conducted during 7 sampling periods. METHODS Recovery of VRE isolates by swabbing the near-patient environment and patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) was conducted to identify reservoirs, clinical and molecular epidemiological associations, and the success of active surveillance cultures (ASCs). RESULTS Of 289 sampling occasions involving 157 patients and their bed spaces, VRE isolates were recovered from patient bed spaces, clinical samples, or both on 114 of 289 sampling occasions (39.4%). The patient and their bed space were positive for VRE on 34 of 114 VRE-associated sampling occasions (29.8%). Of 1,647 environment samples, 107 sites (6.5%) were VRE positive, with significantly greater VRE recovery from isolation rooms than from the open-plan area (9.1% vs 4.1%; P CONCLUSION Even outside of outbreaks, near-patient ICU environmental contamination with VRE is common. Better infection control policies that limit environmental transmission of VRE in the ICU and that are supported by molecular epidemiological studies, in real time, are needed. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2018;39:40-45.</p

Potential efficacy of zonisamide in refractory juvenile myoclonic epilepsy: retrospective evidence from an Irish compassionate-use case series.

To retrospectively evaluate the efficacy of zonisamide as adjunctive therapy in the treatment of refractory juvenile myoclonic epilepsy. We retrospectively reviewed the records of seven patients with refractory juvenile myoclonic epilepsy, commenced on a compassionate-use basis on zonisamide as adjunctive treatment between October 2001 and September 2004. We found significant response rates (>50% reduction in seizure frequency) of 83.3%, 100% and 100% for generalised convulsions, myoclonus, and absence seizures respectively. These results were sustained over more prolonged follow-up in five of seven patients, with one patient improving further over time. Two patients became seizure free with the introduction of zonisamide. Two patients were able to reduce the number of anti-epileptic medications and maintain >75% and 100% reduction in seizure frequency respectively. Four patients initially had minor side-effects that resolved during the maintenance period. In this retrospective study, zonisamide was effective and well-tolerated as adjunctive therapy in patients with refractory juvenile myoclonic epilepsy

Response Rates to Anticonvulsant Trials in Patients with Triphasic-Wave EEG Patterns of Uncertain Significance

Background: Generalized triphasic waves (TPWs) occur in both metabolic encephalopathies and non-convulsive status epilepticus (NCSE). Empiric trials of benzodiazepines (BZDs) or non-sedating AED (NSAEDs) are commonly used to differentiate the two, but the utility of such trials is debated. The goal of this study was to assess response rates of such trials and investigate whether metabolic profile differences affect the likelihood of a response. Methods: Three institutions within the Critical Care EEG Monitoring Research Consortium retrospectively identified patients with unexplained encephalopathy and TPWs who had undergone a trial of BZD and/or NSAEDs to differentiate between ictal and non-ictal patterns. We assessed responder rates and compared metabolic profiles of responders and non-responders. Response was defined as resolution of the EEG pattern and either unequivocal improvement in encephalopathy or appearance of previously absent normal EEG patterns, and further categorized as immediate (within 2 h from trial initiation). Results: We identified 64 patients with TPWs who had an empiric trial of BZD and/or NSAED. Most patients (71.9 %) were admitted with metabolic derangements and/or infection. Positive clinical responses occurred in 10/53 (18.9 %) treated with BZDs. Responses to NSAEDs occurred in 19/45 (42.2 %), being immediate in 6.7 %, delayed but definite in 20.0 %, and delayed but equivocal in 15.6 %. Overall, 22/64 (34.4 %) showed a definite response to either BZDs or NSAEDs, and 7/64 (10.9 %) showed a possible response. Metabolic differences of responders versus non-responders were statistically insignificant, except that the 48-h low value of albumin in the BZD responder group was lower than in the non-responder group. Conclusions: Similar metabolic profiles in patients with encephalopathy and TPWs between responders and non-responders to anticonvulsants suggest that predicting responders a priori is difficult. The high responder rate suggests that empiric trials of anticonvulsants indeed provide useful clinical information. The more than twofold higher response rate to NSAEDs suggests that this strategy may be preferable to BZDs. Further prospective investigation is warranted.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe