Case report of spuriously low sodium and calcium in a 36-year-old male in primary care

An unseparated serum specimen for a 36-year-old male was received from primary care. The specimen arrived in the laboratory at Cork University Hospital one day after collection, as documented on the paper request card, and was promptly centrifuged. Analysis was delayed for three days due to operational constraints and serum indices were run at the same time as the biochemical analyses. Results showed a moderately haemolysed specimen with remarkably low concentrations of both sodium (119 mmol/L) and total calcium (1.15 mmol/L), with all other parameters within their appropriate reference intervals (RIs). The complete report was released electronically and both sodium and calcium results were phoned to, and acknowledged by, the requesting general practitioner (GP). Discussion between the medical scientists and clinical biochemist on duty raised the possibility that the specimen was significantly older than initially thought. Further discussion of results with the GP clarified that the documented time of collection corresponded with specimen receipt by the courier, rather than the time of phlebotomy. Thus, the specimen was 7 days old when received in the laboratory and 10 days old when analysed. This case illustrates the dangers of multiple convergent preanalytical errors. Laboratories should be mindful of the stability of analytes in unseparated blood and unusual patterns of results which might suggest a specimen is “old”, and that this may coexist with erroneous request information. Any potential adverse effects on patient care were prevented in this case by laboratory vigilance

Migrations in our common home: Responding with care - Ireland's response to the Ukrainian crisis

Policy Brief produced by the Roundtable on Migrations in Our Common HomeIreland’s response to the Ukrainian migrants has been almost exemplary and this “human rights first” approach should be the blueprint for a reshaping of Ireland’s International Protection system. Beyond the immediate challenges faced by Ukrainian people forcibly displaced, the wider geopolitical impacts of the crisis – the dependency on Russian fossil fuel production and resultant risks, together with risks to food security – will be felt globally into the future, and disproportionately impact those who can least absorb them. Ireland needs to focus on the care, human rights and wellbeing of all. The legitimate expectations of people living in Ireland are not being met. This is most obvious in areas such as housing and homelessness, a two-tier healthcare system, the deepening rural-urban divide, and high levels of poverty and social exclusion, especially among children. These are all areas that must be grappled with in addition to our response to the Ukrainian crisis. This policy briefing takes a look at the key issues and makes a series of policy recommendations aimed at addressing immediate and future challenges

Migrations in our common home: Planning for change - Climate change and migration

Policy briefing on Ireland's response to climate migration in the context of COP27Migration linked to climate change did not get the attention it deserves at COP27. The Global North must accept responsibility for its role in driving climate change and abide by their commitments made to schemes which address worsening conditions for those in the Global South – according to the Roundtable on Migration in Our Common Home. COP27 marks thirty years since the adoption of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. As the world grapples with the devastating consequences of intensifying climate change, this policy brief examines how climate change is impacting migration, displacement and food security. As COP27 draws to a close, this policy brief looks at the pledges made by Ireland, as well as Ireland’s obligations to Official Development Assistance (ODA) and Climate Finance and the compelling argument in favour of Loss and Damage funding made by the Global south for over three decades. As COP27 draws to a close, the Roundtable expresses its disappointment at the lack of ambition evident in Ireland’s response and the repackaging of previously announced, and inadequate, policies

Capacitating Community: The Writing Innovation Symposium

The topic of this symposium, capacitating community, invites CLJ readers to consider what makes a community possible. This piece showcases one means, small conferences, via a retrospective on the Writing Innovation Symposium (WIS), a regional event with national scope that has hosted writers and writing educators annually in Milwaukee, WI, since 2018. Through a quilted conversation pieced from hours of small-group discussion, twenty-nine participants across academic and nonacademic ranks, roles, and ranges of experience offer insight into the WIS as well as the nature and value of professional community

Genetic mechanisms of critical illness in COVID-19.

Host-mediated lung inflammation is present1, and drives mortality2, in the critical illness caused by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Host genetic variants associated with critical illness may identify mechanistic targets for therapeutic development3. Here we report the results of the GenOMICC (Genetics Of Mortality In Critical Care) genome-wide association study in 2,244 critically ill patients with COVID-19 from 208 UK intensive care units. We have identified and replicated the following new genome-wide significant associations: on chromosome 12q24.13 (rs10735079, P = 1.65 × 10-8) in a gene cluster that encodes antiviral restriction enzyme activators (OAS1, OAS2 and OAS3); on chromosome 19p13.2 (rs74956615, P = 2.3 × 10-8) near the gene that encodes tyrosine kinase 2 (TYK2); on chromosome 19p13.3 (rs2109069, P = 3.98 ×  10-12) within the gene that encodes dipeptidyl peptidase 9 (DPP9); and on chromosome 21q22.1 (rs2236757, P = 4.99 × 10-8) in the interferon receptor gene IFNAR2. We identified potential targets for repurposing of licensed medications: using Mendelian randomization, we found evidence that low expression of IFNAR2, or high expression of TYK2, are associated with life-threatening disease; and transcriptome-wide association in lung tissue revealed that high expression of the monocyte-macrophage chemotactic receptor CCR2 is associated with severe COVID-19. Our results identify robust genetic signals relating to key host antiviral defence mechanisms and mediators of inflammatory organ damage in COVID-19. Both mechanisms may be amenable to targeted treatment with existing drugs. However, large-scale randomized clinical trials will be essential before any change to clinical practice

Wireless Sensor Networks for Activity Monitoring using Multi-sensor Multi-modal Node Architecture

A multi-sensor, multi-modal sensor node for human and vehicle activity monitoring is designed and developed. As a first step to achieve our objective, we have used a dual pyroelectric IR (PIR) sensor system for human activity monitoring. The sampled data from two PIR sensors, under laboratory conditions, is first processed individually to determine the event window size, which is then fed to simple algorithms to determine direction and potentially measure speed of passing humans. We also show that human count can be obtained for some special scenarios. Preliminary results of our experimentation show the effectiveness of the simple algorithms proposed

Lightweight Signal Processing Algorithms for Human Activity Monitoring using Dual PIR-sensor Nodes

A dual Pyroelectric InfraRed (PIR) sensor node is used for human activity monitoring by using simple data processing techniques. We first point out the limitations of existing approaches, employing PIR sensors, for activity monitoring. We study the spectral characteristics of the sensor data for the cases of varying distance between the sensor and moving object as well as the speed of the object under observation. The sampled data from two PIR sensors, is first processed individually to determine the activity window size, which is then fed to a simple algorithm to determine direction of motion.We also claim that human count can be obtained for special scenarios. Preliminary results of our experimentation show the effectiveness of the simple algorithm proposed and give us an avenue for estimating more involved parameters used for speed and localization

Extracting Localised Mobile Activity Patterns from Cumulative Mobile Spectrum RSSI

Techniques for observing the flow of people are creating new means for observing the dynamics between people and the environments they pass through. This ubiquitous connectivity can be observed and interpreted in real-time, through mobile device activity patterns. Recent research into urban analysis through the use of mobile device usage statistics has presented a need for the collection of this data independently from mobile network operators. In this paper we demonstrate that by extracting cumulative received signal strength indication (RSSI) for overall mobile device transmissions, such information can be obtained independently from network operators. We present preliminary results and suggest future applications for which this collection method may be used