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Introduction: Trends in medical technology patents provide an objective comparison of research and development between countries and over time. An analysis of these trends can benchmark innovation within Ireland in a worldwide context. By identifying and examining leading countries, domestic educational, infrastructural, regulatory and fiscal planning may be optimised., Materials and Methods: Published data filing and granting reports from the two major patent offices (United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and European Patent Office (EPO)) were analysed., Results: USPTO statistics demonstrated an 83.1% decrease in the overall number of medical device patents filed over the 10-year period, from 2005 (n = 1092) to 2015 (n = 185). Conversely, there was a 166% increase in the number of medical device patents granted over the same period. EPO applications in the field of medical technology represented the single largest industry category. The proportion of patents granted of Irish origin have increased from 0.7 (n = 22) to 0.9% (n = 73) over 10 years. Switzerland ranks first for medical device patents granted per head of population by the EPO, with Ireland ranking 5th. Ireland's medical device patents have increased dramatically per head of population, from 4.1 per million in 2012, to 15.3 in 2016. Israel has the highest number of USPTO patents granted per head of population, with Ireland ranking 5th., Conclusions: Ireland demonstrates high levels of medical technology patent filing per head of population, reflecting the importance of this industry. However, both Switzerland and Israel demonstrate dominance amongst smaller nations, and serving as benchmarks for national planning.

Globally, there is concern over the decline of bees, an ecologically important group of pollinating insects. Genetic studies provide insights into population structure that are crucial for conservation management but that would be impossible to obtain by conventional ecological methods. Yet conservation genetic studies of bees have primarily focussed on social species rather than the more species-rich solitary bees. Here, we investigate the population structure of Colletes floralis, a rare and threatened solitary mining bee, in Ireland and Scotland using nine microsatellite loci. Genetic diversity was surprisingly as high in Scottish (Hebridean island) populations at the extreme northwestern edge of the species range as in mainland Irish populations further south. Extremely high genetic differentiation among populations was detected; multilocus F(ST) was up to 0.53, and and D(est) were even higher (maximum: 0.85 and 1.00, respectively). A pattern of isolation by distance was evident for sites separated by land. Water appears to act as a substantial barrier to gene flow yet sites separated by sea did not exhibit isolation by distance. C. floralis populations are extremely isolated and probably not in regional migration-drift equilibrium. GIS-based landscape genetic analysis reveals urban areas as a potential and substantial barrier to gene flow. Our results highlight the need for urgent site-specific management action to halt the decline of this and potentially other rare solitary bees., (© 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.)

A World Conservation Union (IUCN) regional red list is an objective assessment of regional extinction risk and is not the same as a list of conservation priority species. Recent research reveals the widespread, but incorrect, assumption that IUCN Red List categories represent a hierarchical list of priorities for conservation action. We developed a simple eight-step priority-setting process and applied it to the conservation of bees in Ireland. Our model is based on the national red list but also considers the global significance of the national population; the conservation status at global, continental, and regional levels; key biological, economic, and societal factors; and is compatible with existing conservation agreements and legislation. Throughout Ireland, almost one-third of the bee fauna is threatened (30 of 100 species), but our methodology resulted in a reduced list of only 17 priority species. We did not use the priority species list to broadly categorize species to the conservation action required; instead, we indicated the individual action required for all threatened, near-threatened, and data-deficient species on the national red list based on the IUCN's conservation-actions template file. Priority species lists will strongly influence prioritization of conservation actions at national levels, but action should not be exclusive to listed species. In addition, all species on this list will not necessarily require immediate action. Our method is transparent, reproducible, and readily applicable to other taxa and regions.