Dublin City University

About: Dublin City University is a education organization based out in Dublin, Ireland. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Context (language use) & Machine translation. The organization has 5904 authors who have published 17178 publications receiving 389376 citations. The organization is also known as: National Institute for Higher Education, Dublin & DCU.

What does family-centred care mean to nurses and how do they think it could be enhanced in practice.

Abstract: coyne i., o’neill c., murphy m., costello t. & o’shea r. (2011) What does family-centred care mean to nurses and how do they think it could be enhanced in practice. Journal of Advanced Nursing67(12), 2561–2573. Abstract Aim. This paper is a report of the qualitative findings of a multisite survey in seven children’s units in Ireland. In this survey, nurses caring for children identified their practice and perception of family-centred care. Background. International research has identified inconsistencies with the provision and application of family-centred care in practice. Existing research studies illustrate barriers to family-centred care including nurses’ attitudes to families and a lack of support and resources for the philosophy. Method. A descriptive survey design was employed to collect data in 2008–2009. Questionnaires were distributed to nurses (n = 750) which yielded a response rate of 33% (n = 250). The nurses completed a 47-item questionnaire which examined nurses’ perceptions and practices of family-centred care, the quantitative findings of this study will be reported in another publication. The questionnaire contained two open-ended questions and the data from these questions are reported here. Findings. While nurses accept family-centred care as an ideal philosophy for the care of children and their families, the implementation of family-centred care in practice would seem to present challenges for nurses. The majority in this study indicated that they required further organizational and managerial support to fully implement family-centred care practices. Two interrelated themes were identified ‘the components of family-centred care’ and ‘enhancing family-centred care’. Conclusion. To provide good quality family-centred care nurses need adequate resources, appropriate education, support for managers and support from other healthcare disciplines.

Air sensitivity of MoS2, MoSe2, MoTe2, HfS2, and HfSe2

Abstract: A surface sensitivity study was performed on different transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) under ambient conditions in order to understand which material is the most suitable for future device applications. Initially, Atomic Force Microscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy studies were carried out over a period of 27 days on mechanically exfoliated flakes of 5 different TMDs, namely, MoS2, MoSe2, MoTe2, HfS2, and HfSe2. The most reactive were MoTe2 and HfSe2. HfSe2, in particular, showed surface protrusions after ambient exposure, reaching a height and width of approximately 60 nm after a single day. This study was later supplemented by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) cross-sectional analysis, which showed hemispherical-shaped surface blisters that are amorphous in nature, approximately 180–240 nm tall and 420–540 nm wide, after 5 months of air exposure, as well as surface deformation in regions between these structures, related to surface oxidation. An X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy study o...

ImPact test-retest reliability: reliably unreliable?

Abstract: Context: Computerized neuropsychological testing is commonly used in the assessment and management of sport-related concussion. Even though computerized testing is widespread, psychometric evidence...

Discovery of early-stage biomarkers for diabetic kidney disease using ms-based metabolomics (FinnDiane study)

Abstract: Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is a devastating complication that affects an estimated third of patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM). There is no cure once the disease is diagnosed, but early treatment at a sub-clinical stage can prevent or at least halt the progression. DKD is clinically diagnosed as abnormally high urinary albumin excretion rate (AER). We hypothesize that subtle changes in the urine metabolome precede the clinically significant rise in AER. To test this, 52 type 1 diabetic patients were recruited by the FinnDiane study that had normal AER (normoalbuminuric). After an average of 5.5 years of follow-up half of the subjects (26) progressed from normal AER to microalbuminuria or DKD (macroalbuminuria), the other half remained normoalbuminuric. The objective of this study is to discover urinary biomarkers that differentiate the progressive form of albuminuria from non-progressive form of albuminuria in humans. Metabolite profiles of baseline 24 h urine samples were obtained by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) to detect potential early indicators of pathological changes. Multivariate logistic regression modeling of the metabolomics data resulted in a profile of metabolites that separated those patients that progressed from normoalbuminuric AER to microalbuminuric AER from those patients that maintained normoalbuminuric AER with an accuracy of 75% and a precision of 73%. As this data and samples are from an actual patient population and as such, gathered within a less controlled environment it is striking to see that within this profile a number of metabolites (identified as early indicators) have been associated with DKD already in literature, but also that new candidate biomarkers were found. The discriminating metabolites included acyl-carnitines, acyl-glycines and metabolites related to tryptophan metabolism. We found candidate biomarkers that were univariately significant different. This study demonstrates the potential of multivariate data analysis and metabolomics in the field of diabetic complications, and suggests several metabolic pathways relevant for further biological studies. © 2011 The Author(s).