Trinity College, Dublin

About: Trinity College, Dublin is a education organization based out in Dublin, Dublin, Ireland. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Context (language use). The organization has 20576 authors who have published 48296 publications receiving 1780313 citations.

Common variants near ATM are associated with glycemic response to metformin in type 2 diabetes.

Abstract: Metformin is the most commonly used pharmacological therapy for type 2 diabetes. We report a genome-wide association study for glycemic response to metformin in 1,024 Scottish individuals with type 2 diabetes with replication in two cohorts including 1,783 Scottish individuals and 1,113 individuals from the UK Prospective Diabetes Study. In a combined meta-analysis, we identified a SNP, rs11212617, associated with treatment success (n = 3,920, P = 2.9 × 10(-9), odds ratio = 1.35, 95% CI 1.22-1.49) at a locus containing ATM, the ataxia telangiectasia mutated gene. In a rat hepatoma cell line, inhibition of ATM with KU-55933 attenuated the phosphorylation and activation of AMP-activated protein kinase in response to metformin. We conclude that ATM, a gene known to be involved in DNA repair and cell cycle control, plays a role in the effect of metformin upstream of AMP-activated protein kinase, and variation in this gene alters glycemic response to metformin.

Anxiety and depression in the Republic of Ireland during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract: BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic in Ireland resulted in a nationwide quarantine on March 27th , 2020 This study represents the first assessment of rates of anxiety and depression in the general population of Ireland during the pandemic AIMS: Our first aim was to estimate the probable prevalence rates of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and depression, and to identify sociodemographic risk factors associated with screening positive for GAD or depression Our second aim was to determine if COVID-19 related anxiety was highest amongst those in society at greatest risk of morality from COVID-19 METHOD: Self-report data was collected from a nationally representative Irish sample (N = 1,041) online between March 31st and April 5th ;the first week of the nationwide quarantine measures Recognised cut-off scores on the GAD-7 and PHQ-9 were used to estimate rates of GAD and depression Correlates of screening positive for GAD or depression were assessed using logistic regression analysis RESULTS: GAD (20 0%), depression (22 8%), and GAD or depression (27 7%) were common Screening positive for GAD or depression was associated with younger age, female sex, loss of income due to COVID-19, COVID-19 infection, and higher perceived risk of COVID-19 infection Citizens aged 65 and older had significantly higher levels of COVID-19 related anxiety than adults aged 18-34 CONCLUSIONS: Initial results from this multi-wave study monitoring changes in population anxiety and depression throughout the pandemic indicate that GAD and depression were common experiences in the population during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic

Quantum Integrability and Supersymmetric Vacua

Abstract: Supersymmetric vacua of two dimensional N = 4 gauge theories with matter, softly broken by the twisted masses down to N = 2, are shown to be in one-to-one correspon- dence with the eigenstates of integrable spin chain Hamiltonians. Examples include: the Heisenberg SU(2) XXX spin chain which is mapped to the two dimensional U(N )t heory with fundamental hypermultiplets, the XXZ spin chain which is mapped to the analogous three dimensional super-Yang-Mills theory compactified on a circle, the XY Z spin chain and eight-vertex model which are related to the four dimensional theory compactified on T 2 . A consequence of our correspondence is the isomorphism of the quantum cohomology ring of various quiver varieties, such as T ∗ Gr(N, L) and the ring of quantum integrals of motion of various spin chains. The correspondence extends to any spin group, represen- tations, boundary conditions, and inhomogeneity, it includes Sinh-Gordon and non-linear Schrodinger models as well as the dynamical spin chains like Hubbard model. These more general spin chains correspond to quiver gauge theories with twisted masses, with classical gauge groups. We give the gauge-theoretic interpretation of Drinfeld polynomials and Baxter operators. In the classical weak coupling limit our results make contact with Nakajima con- structions. Toric compactifications of four dimensional N = 2 theories lead to the instanton corrected Bethe equations. To Prof. T. Eguchi on the occasion of his 60th anniversary §1. Gauge theories and integrable systems The dynamics of gauge theory is a subject of long history and the ever growing importance. In the last fifteen years or so it has become clear that the gauge theory dynamics in the vacuum sector is related to that of quantum many-body systems. A classic example is the equivalence of the pure Yang-Mills theory with gauge group U (N ) in two dimensions to the system of N free non-relativistic fermions on a circle. The same theory embeds as a supersymmetric vacuum sector of a (deformation of) N = 2 super-Yang-Mills theory in two dimensions. A bit less trivial example found in Ref. 1) is that the vacuum sector of a certain supersymmetric two dimensional U (N ) gauge theory with massive adjoint matter is described by the solutions of Bethe ansatz equations for the quantum Nonlinear Schrodinger equation (NLS) in the N -particle sector. The model of Ref. 1) describes the U (1)-equivariant intersection theory on the moduli space of solutions to Hitchin's equations, 2) just as the pure Yang-Mills theory describes the intersection theory on moduli space of flat connections on a two dimensional Riemann surface. This subject was revived in Refs. 3) and 4) by showing that the natural interpretation of the results of Ref. 1) is in terms of the equivalence of the vacua of the U (N ) Yang-Mills- Higgs theory in a sense of Ref. 3) and the energy eigenstates of the N -particle Yang

Potentially inappropriate prescribing and cost outcomes for older people: a national population study

Abstract: WHAT IS ALREADY KNOWN ABOUT THIS SUBJECT • Potentially inappropriate prescribing (PIP) refers to medications that should generally be avoided in older populations and doses or frequencies of administrations that should not be exceeded. Studies of PIP have been primarily based on US indicators of appropriateness such as the Beers criteria due to the lack of European specific indicators. • PIP has not been assessed in full national samples. • The total cost of PIP drugs and the cost in relation to overall national pharmaceutical expenditure have not been described. WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS • One third of the Irish population aged ≥70 years were prescribed at least one potentially inappropriate medication in 2007 based on European criteria. • There was a signficant association between polypharmacy and the risk of PIP. Polypharmacy was evaluated as the number of different repeat drug classes (≥ three prescription claims) per claimant. • The most prevalent PIP drugs were: proton pump inhibitors at maximum therapeutic dosage for >8 weeks (40 mg daily omeprazole, pantoprazole and esomeprazole, 30 mg daily lansoprazole and 20 mg daily rabeprazole); non-steroidal anti-inflammatories for >3 months; long-acting benzodiazepines for >1 month and drug duplication within the same therapeutic class. • The total expenditure on potentially inappropriate drugs was €45 631 319 in 2007 which is 9% of the overall expenditure on pharmaceuticals in those aged ≥70 years in Ireland. AIMS Optimization of drug prescribing in older populations is a priority due to the significant clinical and economic costs of drug-related illness. This study aimed to: (i) estimate the prevalence of potentially inappropriate prescribing (PIP) in a national Irish older population using European specific explicit prescribing criteria; (ii) investigate the association between PIP, number of drug classes, gender and age and; (iii) establish the total cost of PIP. METHODS This was a retrospective national population study (n= 338 801) using the Health Service Executive Primary Care Reimbursement Service (HSE-PCRS) pharmacy claims database. The HSE-PCRS uses the WHO Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification system and details of every drug dispensed and claimants' demographic data are available. Thirty PIP indicators (STOPP) were applied to prescription claims for those ≥70 years in Ireland in 2007. STOPP is a physiological system based screening tool of older persons' potentially inappropriate prescriptions assessing drug–drug and drug–disease interactions, dose and duration. RESULTS In our study population PIP prevalence was 36% (121 454 claimants). The main contributors to this were: 56 560 (17%) prescribed proton pump inhibitors at maximum therapeutic dose for >8 weeks, 29 691 (9%) prescribed non-steroidal anti-inflammatories for >3 months, 17 676 (5%) prescribed long-acting benzodiazepines for >1 month and 16 201 (5%) prescribed duplicate drugs. The main determinant of PIP was polypharmacy. The likelihood of PIP increased with a significant linear and quadratic trend (P < 0.0001) with the number of drug classes.The maximum net ingredient cost of PIP was estimated to be €38 664 640. Total PIP expenditure was estimated to be €45 631 319, 9% of the overall expenditure on pharmaceuticals in those ≥70 years in 2007. CONCLUSIONS The findings identify a high prevalence of PIP in Ireland with significant cost consequences.