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In keeping with international trends, lung cancer incidence and mortality are increasing among the Irish population with many patients presenting with advanced disease that excludes the potential for curative management. Consequently palliative treatment options for this patient group are being increasingly explored with various degrees of success. Endobronchial stenosis represents a particularly challenging area of management among these patients and a number of techniques have been described without the identification of a single gold standard. We report our experience of the first time use of endobronchial cryotherapy in Ireland with reference to a case series, including an example of its use in the management of benign disease, in order to support patients with borderline lung function and enable definitive palliative treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Outbreaks of equine influenza ( EI) in endemic populations cause disruption and economic loss. Objectives To identify (i) factors involved in the spread of EI (ii) virus strains responsible for outbreaks (iii) single radial haemolysis ( SRH) antibody levels correlating with protection against current virus strains (iv) evidence of vaccination breakdown. Methods RT- PCR, virus isolation and SRH were carried out on nasopharyngeal swabs and blood samples collected from horses, ponies and donkeys on affected premises. Data relating to 629 samples from 135 equidae were analysed. Results and conclusions Outbreaks were sporadic, self limiting and associated with the movement of horses. Vaccination status and age influenced clinical signs of disease while housing and fomites contributed to virus spread. Subclinical infection as defined as a horse which tested positive by one or more of the following; RT- PCR, virus isolation and seroconversion in the absence of clinical signs, was identified in 9% of animals. Of the horses with up to date vaccination records 32% developed clinical signs. Vaccine breakdown occurred among horses vaccinated with all four commercially available vaccines. Analysis of HA1 sequence data generated for 26 viruses indicated that they all belonged to clade 2 of the Florida sublineage. Higher SRH antibody levels were required for both clinical and virological protection than reported in studies where vaccine strains were antigenically and genetically similar to those circulating in the field. The results of this study therefore support the OIE recommendations that vaccines be updated to include representatives of both clades of the Florida sublineage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the out-migration of Irish Protestants from southern Ireland during the Irish Revolution at the beginning of the 20th century. The author discusses how republicanism and Ulster unionism may have impacted Irish Protestants, examines the Irish population of Episcopalians, and analyzes if the population decline was due to forced migration or a type of Irish ethnic cleansing.

Do most academic historians of twentieth-century Ireland conform to a 'constitutional narrative', driven by a moral imperative to subvert republican interpretations? Has their shared political agenda led to widespread distortion, suppression, 'elision' and falsification of the evidential record? Is it high time to root out 'the insidious influence of Irish public histories presented as objective historical evidence'? In the view of John M. Regan, the answer in all cases is an emphatic 'yes'. This riposte to his recent article in History examines the credibility of Regan's critique, with particular attention to his claim that the late Peter Hart was guilty of 'academic fraud' in his controversial analysis of republican sectarianism and 'ethnic cleansing' in the Irish revolution. When closely examined, Regan's analysis seems perverse and untenable, implicitly relying on a reductionist conspiracy theory which ignores the rich variety and sound scholarship displayed by several generations of historians of modern Ireland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the career of Captain Edmond Wynne and his role in providing famine relief during the potato failure in 1846 in Ireland. Description of the famine and relief efforts offered by the government; Career profile of Wynne and details of his relief efforts during the period 1846-1851; Official positions held by Wynne and his subsequent removal from office in 1849.

BACKGROUND Pediatric disorders include a range of highly penetrant, genetically heterogeneous conditions amenable to genomewide diagnostic approaches. Finding a molecular diagnosis is challenging but can have profound lifelong benefits. METHODS We conducted a large-scale sequencing study involving more than 13,500 families with probands with severe, probably monogenic, difficult-to-diagnose developmental disorders from 24 regional genetics services in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Standardized phenotypic data were collected, and exome sequencing and microarray analyses were performed to investigate novel genetic causes. We developed an iterative variant analysis pipeline and reported candidate variants to clinical teams for validation and diagnostic interpretation to inform communication with families. Multiple regression analyses were performed to evaluate factors affecting the probability of diagnosis. RESULTS A total of 13,449 probands were included in the analyses. On average, we reported 1.0 candidate variant per parent–offspring trio and 2.5 variants per singleton proband. Using clinical and computational approaches to variant classification, we made a diagnosis in approximately 41% of probands (5502 of 13,449). Of 3599 probands in trios who received a diagnosis by clinical assertion, approximately 76% had a pathogenic de novo variant. Another 22% of probands (2997 of 13,449) had variants of uncertain significance in genes that were strongly linked to monogenic developmental disorders. Recruitment in a parent–offspring trio had the largest effect on the probability of diagnosis (odds ratio, 4.70; 95% confidence interval [CI], 4.16 to 5.31). Probands were less likely to receive a diagnosis if they were born extremely prematurely (i.e., 22 to 27 weeks’ gestation; odds ratio, 0.39; 95% CI, 0.22 to 0.68), had in utero exposure to antiepileptic medications (odds ratio, 0.44; 95% CI, 0.29 to 0.67), had mothers with diabetes (odds ratio, 0.52; 95% CI, 0.41 to 0.67), or were of African ancestry (odds ratio, 0.51; 95% CI, 0.31 to 0.78). CONCLUSIONS Among probands with severe, probably monogenic, difficult-to-diagnose developmental disorders, multimodal analysis of genomewide data had good diagnostic power, even after previous attempts at diagnosis. (Funded by the Health Innovation Challenge Fund and Wellcome Sanger Institute.) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Heavy weight lifting using a squat bar is a commonly used athletic training exercise. Previous in vivo motion studies have concentrated on lifting of everyday objects and not on the vastly increased loads that athletes subject themselves to when performing this exercise., Hypothesis: Athletes significantly alter their lumbar spinal motion when performing squat lifting at heavy weights., Study Design: Controlled laboratory study., Methods: Forty-eight athletes (28 men, 20 women) performed 6 lifts at 40% maximum, 4 lifts at 60% maximum, and 2 lifts at 80% maximum. The Zebris 3D motion analysis system was used to measure lumbar spine motion. Exercise was performed as a "free" squat and repeated with a weight lifting support belt. Data obtained were analyzed using SAS., Results: A significant decrease (P < .05) was seen in flexion in all groups studied when lifting at 40% maximum compared with lifting at 60% and 80% of maximum lift. Flexion from calibrated 0 point ranged from 24.7 degrees (40% group) to 6.8 degrees (80% group). A significant increase (P < .05) was seen in extension when lifting at 40% maximum was compared with lifting at 60% and 80% maximum lift. Extension from calibrated 0 point ranged from -1.5 degrees (40% group) to -20.3 degrees (80% group). No statistically significant difference was found between motion seen when exercise was performed as a free squat or when lifting using a support belt in any of the groups studied., Conclusion: Weight lifting using a squat bar causes athletes to significantly hyperextend their lumbar spines at heavier weights. The use of a weight lifting support belt does not significantly alter spinal motion during lifting.

Aim: The primary aims were to develop a simplified three-dimensional model of the thoracolumbar spine and to predict the influence of axial rotation at different levels of the spine on the resultant scoliotic curve, using King's classification as a comparator., Materials and Methods: A three-dimensional mathematical model of the simplified thoracolumbar spine (constant size vertebral body without posterior elements) was developed using anatomical data from the published literature. The influence of rotational displacement of the motion segments at various levels of the spine was studied by applying different axial rotations, using a three-dimensional homogeneous transformation matrix method., Results: The result of the model show the correlation of the deformity in lower regions of the spine (lumbar) with the geometrical changes in upper regions of the spine (thoracic), associated with the continuous alteration in direction of the vertebral axis of rotation along the spine. The final curvature of the scoliotic spine is influenced by both the degree of axial rotation in each region and the spatial deformation of the spine (e.g. kyphotic shape and extent of lateral deformity). Qualitatively, the model is capable of producing different categories of the spinal deformity based on King's classification., Conclusion: A three-dimensional analysis of spinal shape demonstrates the important relationship between induced vertebral rotation and the resulting deformity. The effect of rotational displacement on the overall configuration of thoracolumbar spine during juvenile growth was assessed and demonstrates close correlation with deformities of the lower regions of spine.