Women and Social Welfare

This chapter reviews the Irish social security system from a gender and feminist perspective. It first reflects on the historical path of Irish social security policy and shows how gender segregation is deeply rooted in Irish social policy. It then reflects on the consequences of such gender segregation and how women experience the risk of poverty and economic dependence. The following section reflects on reform possibilities and examines what needs to be done to achieve a woman’s model of social security reform.The final section puzzles about the lack of pace of regarding such urgent and necessary reform. It concludes that the lack of pace in gender related social security reform is clearly linked to women’s unequal political participation

Reflections on the Basic Income debate from an Irish feminist perspective; A feminist alternative to basic income

Basic Income (BI) is often argued as the ideal reform from a feminist perspective. The paper reflects on whether BI can deliver a feminist gender neutral carer-worker vision of reform. This paper first considers the pros and cons of BI from a general feminist perspective. It argues that a basic income approach, with the potential to reinforce present socially constructed gender differentiated care roles, is not the preferred option for social security reform for working aged payments. The paper therefore outlines an alternative feminist income support reform agenda for Irish working aged social security reform. The paper does not fully reject BI. It argues it is the appropriate reform option for child income support and for pension age

Reflections on the Basic Income debate from an Irish feminist perspective; A feminist alternative to basic income

Basic Income (BI) is often argued as the ideal reform from a feminist perspective. The paper reflects on whether BI can deliver a feminist gender neutral carer-worker vision of reform. This paper first considers the pros and cons of BI from a general feminist perspective. It argues that a basic income approach, with the potential to reinforce present socially constructed gender differentiated care roles, is not the preferred option for social security reform for working aged payments. The paper therefore outlines an alternative feminist income support reform agenda for Irish working aged social security reform. The paper does not fully reject BI. It argues it is the appropriate reform option for child income support and for pension age

MPEG-1 bitstreams processing for audio content analysis

In this paper, we present the MPEG-1 Audio bitstreams processing work which our research group is involved in. This work is primarily based on the processing of the encoded bitstream, and the extraction of useful audio features for the purposes of analysis and browsing. In order to prepare for the discussion of these features, the MPEG-1 audio bitstream format is first described. The Application Interface Protocol (API) which we have been developing in C++ is then introduced, before completing the paper with a discussion on audio feature extraction

Relatedness between the two-component lantibiotics lacticin 3147 and staphylococcin C55 based on structure, genetics and biological activity

BACKGROUND: Two component lantibiotics, such as the plasmid-encoded lacticin 3147 produced by Lactococcus lactis DPC3147 and staphylococcin C55 produced by Staphylococcus aureus C55, represent an emerging subgroup of bacteriocins. These two bacteriocins are particularly closely related, exhibiting 86% (LtnA1 and C55α) and 55% (LtnA2 and C55β) identity in their component peptides. The aim of this study was to investigate, for the first time for any two component bacteriocins, the significance of the relatedness between these two systems. RESULTS: So close is this relatedness that the hybrid peptide pairs LtnA1:C55β and C55α:LtnA2 were found to have activities in the single nanomolar range, comparing well with the native pairings. To determine whether this flexibility extended to the associated post-translational modification/processing machinery, the staphylococcin C55 structural genes were directly substituted for their lacticin 3147 counterparts in the ltn operon on the large conjugative lactococcal plasmid pMRC01. It was established that the lacticin LtnA1 post-translational and processing machinery could produce functionally active C55α, but not C55β. In order to investigate in closer detail the significance of the differences between LtnA1 and C55α, three residues in LtnA1 were replaced with the equivalent residues in C55α. Surprisingly, one such mutant LtnA1-Leu21Ala was not produced. This may be significant given the positioning of this residue in a putative lipid II binding loop. CONCLUSION: It is apparent, despite sharing striking similarities in terms of structure and activity, that these two complex bacteriocins display some highly dedicated features particular to either system

Implementing social health insurance in Ireland: Report of a meeting and workshop held in Dublin, on December 6th 2010

We considered two basic questions, 'Is it possible to implement Social Health Insurance in Ireland?', and 'How can this be done?'. Can Social Health Insurance be implemented in Ireland? Our answer is a very definite yes. Furthermore, there would be many opportunities, while working towards this end, to improve the performance of our health care system. How can it be implemented? This process will need to be actively managed. There are many difficulties in the Irish health services, but also many opportunities. The greatest strengths are the talented, well-trained and very committed staff. Getting and keeping the support of these staff, for the necessary changes in service delivery, will be critical. Ireland has the capacity to make these changes, but without high quality management, a detailed focussed plan for change, and political support, little will happen. Each step in the change needs to be planned to maintain services, improve service delivery, improve service accountability, and improve service governance. Each sector of the service will need someone to lead the change, and mind that service during the change. Primary care remains under-developed. The HSE plan to develop primary care teams (PCT) has not succeeded. There are several established PCTs which work well. In other areas there are informal arrangements for collaboration, which work well. Overall, there are many useful lessons to learn from the experience so far. Future developments will need to place general practice at the centre of primary care. The mechanisms for doing this will vary from place to place, but need to be developed urgently. Acute hospitals face a crisis of governance. Maurice Hayes' (1) recent report on Tallaght hospital gives an idea of the scale of the changes needed. Tallaght is, we believe, not atypical, and is reputed to be by no means the worst governed hospital in the system. This, alone, should provide a pressing motive for change. Redesigning Irish hospitals to a new mission of supporting primary care, of supporting care in the community where possible can, and must, be done. Long-term care for older people is also a challenge. We advise moving to an integrated needs based system with smooth transitions between different degrees of support at home, and different degrees of support in specialized housing facilities including nursing homes. A similar model should apply to other forms of long-term care, for example for people with a substantial disability. Information systems and management processes both need a major overhaul. The health service remains strikingly under-managed, and fixing this will need a substantial culture change within the services. Wide use of standardized formal project management processes will be vital. There is a separate plan being developed to improve health service IT systems, and implementing this needs to be a high priority. We have not considered other key sectors, for example mental health, disability services, and social services. This does not mean that these are unimportant, merely that we had limited time, and a great deal to cover

Essential function for PDLIM2 in cell polarization in three-dimensional cultures by feedback regulation of the β1-Integrin–RhoA signaling axis

PDLIM2 is a cytoskeletal and nuclear PDZ-LIM domain protein that regulates the stability of Nuclear Factor kappa-B (NF kappa B) and other transcription factors, and is required for polarized cell migration. PDLIM2 expression is suppressed by methylation in different cancers, but is strongly expressed in invasive breast cancer cells that have undergone an Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition (EMT). PDLIM2 is also expressed in non-transformed breast myoepithelial MCF10A cells and here we asked whether it is important for maintaining the polarized, epithelial phenotype of these cells. Suppression of PDLIM2 in MCF10A cells was sufficient to disrupt cell polarization and acini formation with increased proliferation and reduced apoptosis in the luminal space compared to control acini with hollow lumina. Spheroids with suppressed PDLIM2 exhibited increased expression of cell-cell and cell-matrix adhesion proteins including beta 1 (beta 1) integrin. Interestingly, levels of the Insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF-1 R) and Receptor of activated protein kinase C 1 (RACK1), which scaffolds IGF-1R to beta 1 integrin, were also increased, indicating a transformed phenotype. Focal Adhesion Kinase (FAK) and cofilin phosphorylation, and RhoA Guanosine Triphosphatase (GTPase) activity were all enhanced in these spheroids compared to control acini. Importantly, inhibition of either FAK or Rho Kinase (ROCK) was sufficient to rescue the polarity defect. We conclude that PDLIM2 expression is essential for feedback regulation of the beta 1-integrin-RhoA signalling axis and integration of cellular microenvironment signals with gene expression to control the polarity of breast epithelial acini structures. This is a mechanism by which PDLIM2 could mediate tumour suppression in breast epithelium

Bacteriocin Gene-Trait matching across the complete Lactobacillus Pan-genome.

peer-reviewedLactobacilli constitute a large genus of Gram-positive lactic acid bacteria which have widespread roles ranging from gut commensals to starters in fermented foods. A combination of in silico and laboratory-based screening allowed us to determine the overall bacteriocin producing potential of representative strains of each species of the genus. The genomes of 175 lactobacilli and 38 associated species were screened for the presence of antimicrobial producing genes and combined with screening for antimicrobial activity against a range of indicators. There also appears to be a link between the strains’ environment and bacteriocin production, with those from the animal and human microbiota encoding over twice as many bacteriocins as those from other sources. Five novel bacteriocins were identified belonging to differing bacteriocin classes, including two-peptide bacteriocins (muricidin and acidocin X) and circular bacteriocins (paracyclicin). In addition, there was a clear clustering of helveticin type bacteriolysins in the Lactobacillus acidophilus group of species. This combined in silico and in vitro approach to screening has demonstrated the true diversity and complexity of bacteriocins across the genus. It also highlights their biological importance in terms of communication and competition between closely related strains in diverse complex microbial environments

The effect of vitamin K1 supplemention for 12 months on bone mineral density and indices of vitamin K status and bone turnover in adult Crohn s disease patients

peer-reviewedAdult patients with Crohn’s disease (CD), even those in remission, have been shown to have higher circulating under-g-carboxylated osteocalcin (ucOC) concentrations, a sensitive marker of vitamin K nutritional status(1), compared to age- and sex-matched healthy control subjects(2,3). Increased concentrations of ucOC in CD patients in these studies appear to be positively and negatively associated with the rate of bone turnover(3) and bone mineral density (BMD) at some sites(2), respectively. The aim of our study was to investigate whether supplementation with vitamin K1 (1000 mg/d) for 12 months had a positive effect on the rate of bone turnover and BMD in CD patients. We have previously shown that this level of supplementation maximally suppresses the degree of ucOC in CD patients(4).PUBLISHEDpeer-reviewe

Effect of phylloquinone (vitamin K1) supplementation for 12 months on the indices of vitamin K status and bone health in adult patients with Crohn's disease.

peer-reviewedAlthough epidemiological findings support a role for vitamin K status in the improvement of bone indices in adult patients with Crohn's disease (CD), this needs to be confirmed in double-blind, randomised controlled trials (RCT) with phylloquinone (vitamin K1). By conducting two RCT, the present study aimed to first establish whether supplementation with 1000 μg of phylloquinone daily near-maximally suppresses the percentage of undercarboxylated osteocalcin in serum (%ucOC; marker of vitamin K status) in adult patients with CD currently in remission as it does in healthy adults and second determine the effect of supplementation with phylloquinone at this dose for 12 months on the indices of bone turnover and bone mass. The initial dose-ranging RCT was conducted in adult patients with CD (n 10 per group) using 0 (placebo), 1000 or 2000 μg of phylloquinone daily for 2 weeks. In the main RCT, the effect of placebo v. 1000 μg vitamin K/d (both co-administered with Ca (500 mg/d) and vitamin D3 (10 μg/d)) for 12 months (n 43 per group) on the biochemical indices of bone turnover (determined by enzyme immunoassay) and bone mass (determined by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry) were investigated. At baseline, the mean %ucOC was 47 %, and this was suppressed upon supplementation with 1000 μg of phylloquinone daily ( - 81 %; P0·1) on bone turnover markers or on the bone mass of the lumbar spine or femur, but modestly increased (P< 0·05) the bone mass of the total radius. Despite near maximal suppression of serum %ucOC, supplementation with 1000 μg of phylloquinone daily (with Ca and vitamin D3) had no effect on the indices of bone health in adult CD patients with likely vitamin K insufficiency.PUBLISHEDpeer-reviewe