Publications by authors named "O'Carroll T"

Background: In Ireland, maternity care is provided through a mixture of public and private services, with type of maternity care offered varying according to availability, clinical need and geographic location.

Aim: To explore women's perceived involvement in decisions about care depending on the maternity care pathway received.

Methods: Mixed-methods secondary analysis of data from the Irish National Maternity Experience Survey 2020.

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  • * A novel approach is presented that involves customizing both the atomic structure of Cu active sites and the mesoscopic structure of carbon supports to enhance the local reaction environment for selective methane production.
  • * After extensive testing, the new catalyst design, featuring nitrogen and hydroxyl-terminated Cu sites within specially engineered carbon supports, achieves a remarkable 74.2% efficiency for CO reduction to methane, highlighting the potential of targeted modifications in catalyst development.
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The electrochemical CO reduction reaction (CO RR) is a promising approach to achieving sustainable electrical-to-chemical energy conversion and storage while decarbonizing the emission-heavy industry. The carbon-supported, nitrogen-coordinated, and atomically dispersed metal sites are effective catalysts for CO generation due to their high activity, selectivity, and earth abundance. Here, we discuss progress, challenges, and opportunities for designing and engineering atomic metal catalysts from single to dual metal sites.

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  • The study examined patient experiences of shared decision making (SDM) in public acute hospitals in Ireland, analyzing data from three years of the Irish National Inpatient Experience Survey.
  • A total of 39,453 patients participated, revealing an average SDM experience score, with higher ratings for treatments and lower for discharge processes; older patients and men reported more positive experiences.
  • The findings suggest a need for better facilitation of SDM, especially at discharge, by allowing more time for discussions between healthcare providers, patients, and their families.
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The microbiota-gut-brain axis (MGBA) has been the subject of much research over the past decade, offering an exciting new paradigm for the treatment of psychiatric disorders. In this review, the MGBA is extended to include skeletal muscle and the potential role of an expanded "muscle-gut-brain axis" (MuGBA) in conditions such as anxiety and depression is discussed. There is evidence, from both preclinical and human studies, of bidirectional links between the gut microbiome and skeletal muscle function and structure.

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Background: Assessing and measuring the experience and quality of care provided is central to the improvement of care delivery of all healthcare systems. This paper reports on the development of a survey instrument to capture the experiences of care at end of life from the perspective of bereaved relatives in the Republic of Ireland.

Methods: A multi-method, multi-stakeholder, sequential approach was adopted for this study.

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Unrestrained anthropogenic activities have severely disrupted the global natural nitrogen cycle, causing numerous energy and environmental issues. Electrocatalytic nitrogen transformation is a feasible and promising strategy for achieving a sustainable nitrogen economy. Synergistically combining multiple nitrogen reactions can realize efficient renewable energy storage and conversion, restore the global nitrogen balance, and remediate environmental crises.

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Nitrogen-coordinated single-cobalt-atom electrocatalysts, particularly ones derived from high-temperature pyrolysis of cobalt-based zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs), have emerged as a new frontier in the design of oxygen reduction cathodes in polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs) due to their enhanced durability and smaller Fenton effects related to the degradation of membranes and ionomers compared with emphasized iron-based electrocatalysts. However, pyrolysis techniques lead to obscure active-site configurations, undesirably defined porosity and morphology, and fewer exposed active sites. Herein, a highly stable cross-linked nanofiber electrode is directly prepared by electrospinning using a liquid processability cobalt-based covalent organic polymer (Co-COP) obtained via pyrolysis-free strategy.

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Objective: To explore women's experiences of initiating and continuing breast or formula feeding shortly after birth in Ireland's maternity hospitals and units, as well as at home after birth.

Design: Mixed methods secondary analysis of qualitative and quantitative data from the Irish National Maternity Experience Survey 2020.

Setting: All 19 maternity hospitals and units in the Republic of Ireland and the national home births service.

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The growing population of older people has increased demand to meet their complex healthcare needs, including in emergency departments (EDs). This study explored the experiences of people aged 65+ in Irish EDs, involving secondary analysis of quantitative and qualitative data from the 2019 National Inpatient Experience Survey (NIES). Experiences in the ED and overall hospital experiences were dichotomized as poor to fair or good to very good.

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Background: Antipsychotics (APs) increase weight, metabolic syndrome, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Guidelines recommend cardio-metabolic monitoring at initial assessment, at 3 months and then annually in people prescribed APs.

Aim: To determine the rates of cardio-metabolic monitoring in AP treated early and chronic psychosis and to assess the impact of targeted improvement strategies.

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The origin and frequency of alarm soundings in a general purpose intensive therapy unit were recorded by the nursing staff for 3 weeks. Only eight out of a total of 1455 soundings indicated potentially life threatening problems. There were many false alarms from the monitoring system and the infusion rate pump.

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We report the cases of two infants of insulin-dependent diabetic mothers who had in common the rare malformations of absent tibia and lumbar hernia.

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Two prototype agent-specific devices have been tested and neither in its present form is ideal. Filling of vaporisers may be delegated to inexperienced persons but the devices tested do not ensure that vaporisers can only be filled with the correct agent. Significant atmospheric pollution with the volatile anaesthetic agent may occur at the time of filling.

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In a group of 31 patients undergoing electroconvulsive therapy, there was no significant difference between the times of return of eyelash reflex, swallowing and respiration following a single induction dose of 0.2 mg/kg of etomidate as compared with an induction dose of 0.036 ml/kg of alphaxalone/alphadalone.

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