Pharmaceuticals Delivery in Ireland. Getting a Bigger Bang for the Buck

Ireland

COVID-19 and emergency department attendances in Irish public hospitals. ESRI QEC Special Article May 2020.

New ESRI research published today, 22 May, shows that emergency department (ED) attendances in Ireland fell sharply at the onset of COVID-19 outbreak in Ireland. The average number of daily emergency department attendances at the end of March 2020 was approximately half what it was at the beginning of March. Similar reductions were seen across each region of the country. The reductions were substantial across all age groups, with particularly high reductions amongst younger age groups. There was even a decline in the number of attendances classified as very urgent/immediate. The fall in these more serious cases was 27%, compared to a 32% decline in less urgent attendances

Pharmaceuticals: Getting Better Value for Money. ESRI Research Bulletin 2012/2/1

The Irish health-care system is under severe budgetary pressure. Pharmaceutical expenditure is no exception. During the 2000s Ireland experienced one of the highest annual growth rates in pharmaceutical expenditure of any OECD country. In 2009 Ireland spent more on pharmaceuticals per capita than any other OECD country (with the exception of the US, Canada and Greece)

Linear Sprint Testing Methods in Gaelic Games: A Systematic Review

Background: The most common method used to monitor acceleration and maximum sprinting speed performance is via a linear sprint test. When conducting linear sprint monitoring it is important to ensure the relevant methodologies are all considered and standardised to ensure valid and reliable results. Objectives: The aims of this review are 1) to systematically search the Gaelic games literature and identify studies that have assessed linear sprint performance, 2) to report the methodological variables employed in each study, and 3) to report normative values for linear sprint performance. Methods: This systematic review searched for literature in five databases. Key details (i.e., playing standard, timing technology, split times over various distances), were extracted. A methodological reporting rating tool was created to grade each study. Results: Twenty-two studies; one in camogie, twelve in hurling and ten in men’s Gaelic football were included. No study monitoring ladies Gaelic football was identified. Sprint times over 10 m ranged from 1.71 ± 0.08 to 2.11 ± 0.77 s between hurlers and men’s Gaelic footballers. The mean rating for methodological reporting was 42%. All included studies failed to report some key methodological variables. Conclusions: This review highlights the importance of utilising and reporting the methods used to conduct accurate sprint performance monitoring across time and allow comparison between studies. The methodological rating tool can be used by practitioners as a ‘checklist’ to ensure sprint monitoring is conducted in a valid and reliable manner. Future research should seek to examine linear sprint performance in ladies Gaelic football

Peak Speed in Gaelic Games: A Systematic Review of GPS Methods

Background: Peak speed is an essential physical quality in Gaelic games due to the offensive, defensive, and transitional nature of the sports. Objectives: The aims of the study were to systematically search the literature for studies examining peak speed during Gaelic games match-play using Global Positioning System (GPS) technology, to assess the GPS methodologies implemented and report normative values for peak speed by sport. Methods: Keywords were combined to search and identify studies reporting peak speed values recorded using GPS technology during Gaelic games match-play. Key details such as GPS brand/model, number of satellites connected, and firmware version were extracted. A risk of bias tool was designed to rate the level of detection bias within each study. Results: Twenty-one (N=21) studies met the inclusion criteria. Eight studies examined peak speed in hurling and men’s Gaelic football, respectively, while four camogie and one ladies Gaelic football study were identified. Twenty-nine percent (29%) of included studies were graded as having a high risk of bias in at least one category. Peak speeds between 7.81 to 9.97 m·s-1 were reported in hurling and men’s Gaelic football and between 5.88 to 7.45 m·s-1 in camogie and ladies’ Gaelic football. Conclusions: The dearth of literature examining peak speed in both female sports requires additional investigation, particularly in relation to the sprint profile of ladies Gaelic football. It is recommended that practitioners are cognisant of the methodological considerations which can be used as a ‘checklist’ to ensure accurate and reliable data are collected when using GPS technology to monitor peak speed

Surface Potential Modulation in Boronate-Functionalized Magnetic Nanoparticles Reveals Binding Interactions: Toward Magnetophoretic Capture/Quantitation of Sugars from Extracellular Matrix

Phenylboronic acids (BAs) are important synthetic receptors that bind reversibly to cis-diols enabling their use in molecular sensing. When conjugated to magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles, BAs have potential for application in separations and enrichment. Realizing this will require a new understanding of their inherent binding modes and measurement of their binding capacity and their stability in/extractability from complex environments. In this work, 3-aminophenylboronic acid was functionalized to superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (MNPs, core diameter 8.9 nm) to provide stable aqueous suspensions of functionalized particles (BA-MNPs). The progress of sugar binding and its impact on BA-MNP colloidal stability were monitored through the pH-dependence of hydrodynamic size and zeta potential during incubation with a range of saccharides. This provided the first direct observation of boronate ionization pKa in grafted BA, which in the absence of sugar shifted to a slightly more basic pH than free BA. On exposure to sugar solutions under MNP-limiting conditions, pKa moved progressively to lower pH as maximum capacity was gradually attained. The pKa shift is shown to be greater for sugars with greater BA binding affinity, and on-particle sugar exchange effects were inferred. Colloidal dispersion of BA-MNPs after binding was shown for all sugars at all pHs studied, which enabled facile magnetic extraction of glucose from agarose and cultured extracellular matrix expanded in serum-free media. Bound glucose, quantified following magnetophoretic capture, was found to be proportional to the solution glucose content under glucose-limiting conditions expected for the application. The implications for the development of MNP-immobilized ligands for selective magnetic biomarker capture and quantitation from the extracellular environment are discussed.The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support from Science Foundation Ireland under Grant Agreements 13/CDA/2155 and 16/IA/4584, the work was also co-funded under the European Regional Development Fund (13/RC/2073_2). P.B.P. acknowledges the Government of Spain - Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports for the FPU grant (FPU14/04589)

Local air pollution and asthma among over-50s in Ireland. ESRI Research Bulletin 202008 June 2020.

Researchers today published a study showing that over-50s in Ireland living in areas with higher levels of air pollution are more likely to have asthma. The study, published in the International Journal of Epidemiology, was carried out by a team from ESRI, TCD, RCSI, TU Dublin and IT Carlow

Electrostatically modulated magnetophoretic transport of functionalised iron-oxide nanoparticles through hydrated networks

Factors that determine magnetophoretic transport of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) through hydrated polymer networks under the influence of an external magnetic field gradient were studied. Functionalised iron oxide cores (8.9 nm core diameter) were tracked in real-time as they moved through agarose gels under the influence of an inhomogeneous magnetic field. Terminal magnetophoretic velocities were observed in all cases, these were quantified and found to be highly reproducible and sensitive to the con- ditions. Increasing agarose content reduced magnetophoretic velocity, we attribute this to increasingly tortuous paths through the porous hydrated polymer network and propose a new factor to quantify the tortuosity. The impact of MNP surface functionalisation, charge, network fixed charge content, and ionic strength of the aqueous phase on velocity were studied to separate these effects. For MNPs functionalised with polyethylene glycol (PEG) increasing chain length reduced velocity but the tortuosity extracted, which is a function of the network, was unchanged; validating the approach. For charged citrate- and arginine-functionalised MNPs, magnetophoretic velocities were found to increase for particles with posi- tive and decrease for particles with negative zeta potential. In both cases these effects could be moder- ated by reducing the number of agarose anionic residues and/or increasing the ionic strength of the aqueous phase; conditions under which tortuosity again becomes the critical factor. A model for MNP transport identifying the contributions from the tortuous pore network and from electrostatic effects associated with the pore constrictions is proposed

Life cycle assessment of a short-rotation coppice willow riparian buffer strip for farm nutrient mitigation and renewable energy production

Publication history: Accepted - 13 January 2022; Published online - 2 February 2022.As agricultural activity intensifies across Europe there is growing concern over water quality. Agricultural run-off is a leading cause of freshwater degradation. Simultaneously there is a continually increasing drive to promote renewable energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Willow coppice planted as a riparian buffer has been suggested as a solution to help mitigate these problems. However, there is limited research into the use of such a system and several key knowledge gaps remain, such as, the energy ratio of the system is not known, and a fully harvested site has yet to be analysed in the literature. The aim of this research is to fill these knowledge gaps to help inform agri-environmental policy. To do this a life cycle assessment was carried out on an established willow buffer system, considering the global warming potential, eutrophication potential, acidification potential and cumulative energy demand impact categories, alongside the calculation of the energy ratio. To our knowledge it is the first site to be fully harvested and for which a full life cycle assessment has been carried out. The willow was combusted to fuel a district heating system. Key results showed emissions of 4.66 kg CO2eq GJheatout -1 and 0.01 kg SO2eq GJheatout -1, both of which are significant reductions compared to an oil heating system (95% reductions for both impact categories). The system also resulted in the permanent nutrient removal of 55.36 kg PO43-eq ha-1 yr-1 and had an energy ratio of 17.4, which could rise to 64 depending on the harvest method.This Bryden Centre project is supported by the European Union’s INTERREG VA Programme, managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB). The views and opinions expressed in this paper do not necessarily reflect those of the European Commission or the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB). The work was also supported by Queen’s University Belfast and the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute in Northern Ireland