Directives and politeness in SPICE-Ireland

Working from the perspective of Leech’s (The Pragmatics of Politeness. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2014) modification to Blum-Kulka et al.’s (Cross-cultural pragmatics: Requests and apologies. Norwood, NJ, Ablex, 1989) approach to classifying requests, this study investigates how far impositive directive speech acts are found in spoken Irish English, a variety of English which is well-known for avoiding face threats. The study further investigates how these impositive speech acts are influenced by the genre of the spoken category. In order to do so, this study uses data from the southern component of SPICE-Ireland, a pragmatically annotated corpus of spoken Irish English, and analyses data from six different genres of spoken conversation: Broadcast discussions, Business transactions, Classroom discussions, Face-to-face conversations, Legal presentations and Telephone conversations. These genres are classified in terms of the concepts of ‘language of distance’ versus ‘language of immediacy’. In the data, impositive strategies are frequently found, particularly so in private settings of ‘language of immediacy’. In the more public and formal settings of ‘language of distance’, by contrast, indirect strategies are more prominent

Introduction: researching Corpus Pragmatics in Irish English

This Introduction to the Special Issue describes the research background to Irish English Corpus Pragmatics. It also gives a brief overview of the papers accepted for the Special Issue. These papers introduce new approaches to the field of Irish Corpus Pragmatics, allowing scholars to expand their methodological tool boxes in dealing with Pragmatics on the basis of corpus evidence

Surveying the Sickbeds: Initial Steps towards Modelling All-Ireland Hospital Accessibility

There has been increasing interest in recent years by both civil servants and academics in both Irish jurisdictions in modelling economic and social structures across the whole island, with health services one of the key areas explored 1 . There has been some limited cross-border movement in the utilisation of health care, and a recently published preliminary study by Jamison and Butler (2007) 2 examined the existing configuration of acute hospital ser vices, identifying considerable potential for cr oss-bor der collaboration in these services, particularly in the border region

Surveying the Sickbeds: Initial Steps towards Modelling All-Ireland Hospital Accessibility

There has been increasing interest in recent years by both civil servants and academics in both Irish jurisdictions in modelling economic and social structures across the whole island, with health services one of the key areas explored 1 . There has been some limited cross-border movement in the utilisation of health care, and a recently published preliminary study by Jamison and Butler (2007) 2 examined the existing configuration of acute hospital ser vices, identifying considerable potential for cr oss-bor der collaboration in these services, particularly in the border region

Acupuncture for stroke: perceptions and possibilities

Objective: To investigate perceptions and acceptability of, and attitudes towards, acupuncture for post-acute stroke and rehabilitation care by exploring the views of different stakeholders. Methods: Three electronic surveys were conducted to gauge the breadth of knowledge and acceptance of acupuncture in post-acute stroke and rehabilitation care among three stakeholder groups: (1) traditional acupuncturists registered with the British Acupuncture Council (BAcC); (2) National Health Service (NHS) professionals attending the 2017 UK Stroke Forum conference; and (3) the UK network of Stroke Club co-ordinators. Results: Of 278 NHS respondents, 31% were doctors. Over half (52%) of all NHS respondents reported they had insufficient knowledge about acupuncture, its effectiveness (23%) or how to refer (21%). Only 12% had previously referred stroke patients for acupuncture but 46% thought that there was role for acupuncture in post-acute stroke care (50% were unsure). Two thirds of BAcC acupuncturist respondents had treated at least one stroke patient, with 70.1% having treated 1–5 stroke patients and 71% having provided treatment in the last year, most commonly for motor impairment (88.2%). Of 99 Stroke Club coordinators who responded, only seven had ever been asked about acupuncture by patients, but most felt there would be interest. Conclusion: Interest in the provision of acupuncture for post-acute stroke care was expressed by both NHS practitioners and acupuncturists. Further research is required on the acceptability of acupuncture to patients as well as evidence of its clinical and cost effectiveness

Trends in blindness due to diabetic retinopathy among adults aged 18-69 years over a decade in Ireland

Aims: To describe trends in the incidence of visual impairment and blindness due to diabetic retinopathy among adults aged 18–69 years in Ireland between 2004 and 2013. Methods: Data on visual impairment due to diabetic retinopathy in adults aged 18–69 years or over who are registered with the National Council for the Blind of Ireland, (2004–2013) were analysed. Annual incidence rates were calculated for the adult population and the population with diagnosed diabetes. Poisson regression was used to test for changes in rates over time. The relative, attributable and population risk of blindness and visual impairment due to diabetic retinopathy were calculated for 2013. Results: Over the decade, the prevalence of diagnosed diabetes increased from 2.1% to 3.6%. Among people with diagnosed diabetes, the incidence of visual impairment due to diabetic retinopathy increased from 6.4 (95% CI 2.4–13.9) per 100,000 in 2004 to 11.7 (95% CI 5.9–21.0) per 100,000 in 2013. The incidence of blindness due to diabetic retinopathy varied from 31.9 per 100,000 (95% CI 21.6–45.7) in 2004 to 14.9 per 100,000 (95% CI 8.2–25.1) in 2013. Conclusions: Our findings indicate the need for increased attention to preventive measures for microvascular complications among adults with diabetes in Ireland. Retinopathy screening has been standardised in Ireland, these findings provide useful baseline statistics to monitor the impact of this population-based screening programme

Risk factors for macro- and microvascular complications among older adults with diagnosed type 2 diabetes: findings from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing

Objective. To explore risk factors for macro- and microvascular complications in a nationally representative sample of adults aged 50 years and over with type 2 diabetes in Ireland. Methods. Data from the first wave of The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) (2009–2011) was used in cross-sectional analysis. The presence of doctor diagnosis of diabetes, risk factors, and macro and microvascular complications were determined by self-report. Gender-specific differences in risk factor prevalence were assessed with the chi-squared test. Binomial regression analysis was conducted to explore independent associations between established risk factors and diabetes-related complications. Results. Among 8175 respondents, 655 were classified as having type 2 diabetes. Older age, being male, a history of smoking, a lower level of physical activity, and a diagnosis of high cholesterol were independent predictors of macrovascular complications. Diabetes diagnosis of 10 or more years, a history of smoking, and a diagnosis of hypertension were associated with an increased risk of microvascular complications. Older age, third-level education, and a high level of physical activity were protective factors (\u1d45d < 0.05). Conclusions. Early intervention to target modifiable risk factors is urgently needed to reduce diabetes-related morbidity in the older population in Ireland

Effect of elexacaftor-tezacaftor-ivacaftor on nasal potential difference and lung function in Phe508del rats

Introduction:Phe508del is the most common cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene variant that results in the recessive genetic disorder cystic fibrosis (CF). The recent development of highly effective CFTR modulator therapies has led to significant health improvements in individuals with this mutation. While numerous animal models of CF exist, few have a CFTR mutation that is amenable to the triple combination therapy elexacaftor-tezacaftor-ivacaftor (ETI).Methods: To determine the responsiveness of Phe508del rats to ETI, a baseline nasal potential difference was measured. Subsequently, they received ETI daily for 14 days, after which post-treatment nasal potential difference, lung mechanics (via flexiVent) and lung ventilation (via X-ray Velocimetry) were assessed.Results: Chloride ion transport in nasal airways was restored in Phe508del rats treated with ETI, but neither lung mechanics nor ventilation were significantly altered.Discussion: These findings validate the usefulness of this rat model for future investigations of modulator therapy in CF

The inter-rater reliability of the Risk Instrument for Screening in the Community

Predicting risk of adverse healthcare outcomes is important to enable targeted delivery of interventions. The Risk Instrument for Screening in the Community (RISC), designed for use by public health nurses (PHNs), measures the one-year risk of hospitalisation, institutionalisation and death in community-dwelling older adults according to a five-point global risk score: from low (score 1,2), medium (3) and high (4,5). We examined the inter-rater reliability (IRR) of the RISC between student PHNs (n=32) and expert raters using six cases (two low, medium and high-risk), scored before and after RISC training. Correlations increased for each adverse outcome, statistically significantly for institutionalisation (r=0.72 to 0.80,p=0.04) and hospitalisation, (r=0.51 to 0.71,p<0.01) but not death. Training improved accuracy for low-risk but not all high-risk cases. Overall, the RISC showed good IRR, which increased after RISC training. That reliability reduced for some high-risk cases suggests that the training programme requires adjustment to further improve IRR