A snapshot on a journey from frustration to readiness-A qualitative pre-implementation exploration of readiness for technology adoption in Public Health Protection in Ireland.

In an era of emergent infectious disease, the timely and efficient management of disease outbreaks is critical to public health protection. Integrated technologies for case and incident management (CIM) collect real-time health intelligence for decision making in Public Health. In Ireland, a Public Health reform program is preparing for implementation of a health information system for health protection.

A review of the inclusion of equity stratifiers for the measurement of health inequalities within health and social care data collections in Ireland.

Background: Health equity differs from the concept of health inequality by taking into consideration the fairness of an inequality. Inequities may be culturally specific, based on social relations within a society. Measuring these inequities often requires grouping individuals.

Hydrodynamics selects the pathway for displacive transformations in DNA-linked colloidal crystallites.

The degree to which DNA-linked particle crystals, particularly those composed of micrometer-scale colloids, are able to dynamically evolve or whether they are kinetically arrested after formation remains poorly understood. Here, we study a recently observed displacive transformation in colloidal binary superlattice crystals, whereby a body-centered cubic to face-centered cubic transformation is found to proceed spontaneously under some annealing conditions. Using a comprehensive suite of computer simulation tools, we develop a framework for analyzing the many displacive transformation pathways corresponding to distinct, but energetically degenerate, random hexagonal close-packed end states.

Prevalence and associations of limited health literacy in chronic kidney disease: a systematic review.

Background: Health literacy (HL) is important in chronic disease. This review aimed to evaluate the literature evidence on prevalence and associations of limited HL in chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Methods: Seven databases were searched using terms for CKD and HL.

Driving diffusionless transformations in colloidal crystals using DNA handshaking.

Many crystals, such as those of metals, can transform from one symmetry into another having lower free energy via a diffusionless transformation. Here we create binary colloidal crystals consisting of polymer microspheres, pulled together by DNA bridges, that induce specific, reversible attractions between two species of microspheres. Depending on the relative strength of the different interactions, the suspensions spontaneously form either compositionally ordered crystals with CsCl and CuAu-I symmetries, or disordered, solid solution crystals when slowly cooled.

Impact of critical social empowerment on psychological empowerment and job satisfaction in nursing and midwifery settings.

Aim: To test an expanded model of empowerment which specifies the relationships between structural, psychological, critical social empowerment and job satisfaction.

Background: There is evidence that structural empowerment predicts psychological empowerment and these two dimensions of empowerment are independent predictors of job satisfaction. This study explored a third dimension of empowerment-- critical social empowerment--and its impact on psychological empowerment and job satisfaction.

An assessment tool for acutely ill medical patients.

This article reports the implementation and impact of a standardized systematic evidence-based predictive score for the initial assessment of acutely ill medical patients. The Simple Clinical Score (SCS) was introduced in the A&E department and the medical floor of the authors' hospital between June 2007 and July 2008. The SCS was well received by the staff - 67% felt it greatly improved patient assessment and was very valuable for ensuring appropriate placement of the patient after admission and improved the quality of care.