Sex, dementia, capacity and care homes

This paper addresses the appropriate legal and policy approach to sexual conduct involving people with dementia in care homes, where the mental capacity of one or both partners is compromised. Such conduct is prohibited by sections 34–42 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, but this article asks whether this blanket prohibition is necessarily the appropriate response. The article considers a variety of alternative responses, eventually arguing that clearer guidance regarding prosecution should be issued

Finding Data Pathways Through the ‘Pandemic Pilgrimage Boom’: Embedded-like Research, COVID-19, and the British Pilgrimage Trust

This article reviews claims that the United Kingdom experienced a ‘pandemic pilgrimage boom’. It contributes findings from an ‘embedded-like’ research project, which drew on data created by the British Pilgrimage Trust (BPT) – a heritage and wellbeing charity that hosts a website hub to support pilgrimage action in the UK – to debate about the impact of COVID-19 on pilgrimage practice. These findings show how a set of uses and meanings about pilgrimage, particularly its affordances for mental health and emotional wellbeing, have resonated during the pandemic, especially at moments of heightened social stress. This has generated greater social traction for pilgrimage, and there may be potential for further growth in response to twenty-first century crises, such as the increasingly apparent impacts of climate change. Learning from the experience of COVID-19, this article encourages research investment in longitudinal data-driven approaches to study the individual and social affordances that pilgrimage offers in view of its modern adaptations and applications

Finite element analysis of idealised cardiovascular stents : understanding the influence of artery material models on stent stress distribution

Stent fracture (SF) is thought to be a major contributor to in-stent restenosis and other adverse clinical events. It has been linked to angulated vessels and bifurcations, where there is often a hinge-motion movement throughout the cardiac cycle. Finite element (FE) analysis of stented arteries can be utilised to assess stent stresses and predict the likelihood of SF.An idealised tubular stent model was initially created and validated for use as a design- independent representation of stent devices. The stent model was idealised to a cylindrical tube to eliminate the device artifacts and ensure the resulting stent stress analysis was not distorted by highly localised areas of higher stress. The idealised model was based on the 3-point-bend test of a cardiovascular stent, and the FE model created to represent the mechanical behaviour of the device.Human arteries have previously been represented using a variety of mathematical models ranging from simple linear isotropic models to more complex hyperelastic models. As there has been little comparative work to qualify the necessity of using the more complex constitutive models for analysis of stresses in the stent, this study employed a variety of mathematical models used to represent human arteries to allow direct comparison of the sensitivity of model variation. The idealised stent model was used to represent an angulated stented vessel undergoing hinge-motion bending. Six different artery models from the literature were used to define the artery in the FE model and the resulting stent stresses were assessed.The results of the sensitivity study were varied and indicated little sensitivity to the artery model in terms of the stress distribution pattens, however the maximum stress values were more diverse. Overall, the likely location of SF was determined to be on the inside of the hinge-point of the stented bifurcation lesion. The model was determined to be useful as a comparative model to assess different stents devices and materials for those most likely to fracture

Prediction of 24-hour milk yield and composition in dairy cows from a single part-day yield and sample

peer-reviewedTeagasc PublicationIrish Journal of Agricultural and Food Research | Volume 58: Issue 1 Prediction of 24-hour milk yield and composition in dairy cows from a single part-day yield and sample S. McParlandemail , B. Coughlan , B. Enright , M. O’Keeffe , R. O’Connor , L. Feeney and D.P. Berry DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ijafr-2019-0007 | Published online: 09 Aug 2019 PDF Abstract Article PDF References Recommendations Abstract The objective was to evaluate the accuracy of predicting 24-hour milk yield and composition from a single morning (AM) or evening (PM) milk weight and composition. A calibration dataset of 37,481 test-day records with both AM and PM yields and composition was used to generate the prediction equations; equations were validated using 4,644 test-day records. Prediction models were developed within stage of lactation and parity while accounting for the inter-milking time interval. The mean correlation between the predicted 24-hour yields and composition of milk, fat and protein and the respective actual values was 0.97 when based on just an AM milk yield and composition with a mean correlation of 0.95 when based on just a PM milk yield and composition. The regression of predicted 24-hour yield and composition on the respective actual values varied from 0.97 to 1.01 with the exception of 24-hour fat percentage predicted from a PM sample (1.06). A single AM sample is useful to predict 24-hour milk yield and composition when the milking interval is known

DIETARY PATTERNS IN STREAM- AND LAKE-DWELLING POPULATIONS OF AUSTROPOTAMOBIUS PALLIPES

White-clawed crayfish (Austropotamobius pallipes) are widespread in Ireland in both running and standing water, although stream-dwelling in much of their range elsewhere. A detailed comparative study of a lake and a stream population demonstrated that diets changed with crayfish size from feeding on entomostracans to a predominance of aquatic macrophytes and terrestrial vegetation. However, carnivory remained important at all sizes: Gammarids were a significant component in larger lake crayfish and in all sizes of stream crayfish. Fish increased in importance with crayfish size. A. pallipes thus appears more carnivorous than some other European and American crayfish. The extent to which this is related to habitat is discussed

Changing a League Structure: Marketing Implications for Rugby League Clubs in the UK

AIM The sport of rugby league in the UK underwent a Policy Review in 2013 that saw the sport move from a licensing system which was first introduced in 2009 to restore a promotion and relegation league system to be implemented in 2015 (RFL, 2015). In its 2015-2021 strategic plan, the Rugby Football League (RFL) outlined its rationale and vision to increase the visibility and profile of the sport in the UK (RFL, 2015). The resulting 2015 season new competition format included a 12 team elite Super League, a 12 team Championship, and a new 14 team League One. The integration of all league competitions through promotion and relegation presented a particular opportunity to increase the interest and attractiveness for rugby league as a sport product in the Championship division. The aim was to explore the impact of the new league structure on the Championship clubs marketing activities to reinvigorate fan interest ahead of the 2015 season

Implications of lymphocyte anergy to glycolipids in multiple sclerosis (MS): iNKT cells may mediate the MS infectious trigger

Immunogenic lipids may play key roles in host defenses against infection and in generating autoimmune inflammation and organ-specific damage. In multiple sclerosis (MS) there are unequivocal autoimmune features and vulnerability to aggravation or induction by microbial or viral infection. We have found glycolipid-driven anergy of circulating lymphocytes in MS indicating that this immune response is affected in MS and the robust effects of iNKT activation with potent cellular and cytokine activities emphasizes its potential importance. Diverse glycolipids including the endogenous myelin acetylated-galactosylceramides (AcGalCer) can drive activation that could be critical to the inflammatory demyelination in the central nervous system and clinical consequences. The iNKT cells and their invariant or iTCR (Vα24Jα18Vβ11) constitute an innate defense−a discrete immune arm that is separate from peptide-driven acquired immune responses. This offers new possibilities for insight including a likelihood that the pattern recognition of exogenous microbial and myelin immunogens can overlap and cross-react especially in an inflammatory milieu