Queen's University Belfast

Macroporous Poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate) Hydrogels as Removable Antibiotic-Capture Liners for Endotracheal Tubes Designed to Prevent Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia

Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is a life-threatening condition most frequently associated with the use of endotracheal tubes (ETs). This study describes the development of macroporous p(HEMA) hydrogels as removable antimicrobial liners for ETs to help prevent VAP. Hydrogel...

The development and validation of the partial denture experience questionnaire (P-DEQ): reliability and validity

Introduction This paper describes the development and preliminary validation of the Partial Denture Experience Questionnaire (P-DEQ), a new, condition-specific instrument designed to measure the multifaceted impacts of living with removable dentures. Methods The P-DEQ was develop...

Gene flow, kinship, and source population assignment in Chrysomya blow flies

Abstract Blow flies of the genus Chrysomya are among the earliest colonizers of human remains and are important forensic indicators in Africa and the Middle East. However, the population genetic structure of Old World Chrysomya species in North Africa remains poorly understood. W...

Recruiting a geographically, ethnically and socioeconomically diverse population of postpartum women into a behavioural weight management intervention trial: an evaluation of strategies used in the Supporting MumS (SMS) randomised controlled trial

Abstract Background Engaging women in behavioural weight management interventions in the postpartum period has proved challenging. Previous trials of such interventions have frequently experienced issues with participant recruitment and retention and recruited samples have been s...

Conceptualizing Social Political Development Within Contested Settings: A Case Study of Youth in Northern Ireland

ABSTRACT During adolescence, young people develop civic identities and the psychological and social capacities that shape how they interpret and respond to social and political issues. However, relatively little research has examined how these processes unfold in contested settin...

Designing a School-Based, Complex Public Health Intervention to Improve Iodine Awareness in Adolescents in Six Countries

Background: Iodine is an essential micronutrient required for foetal development, cognitive function, and metabolic regulation; however, suboptimal iodine status remains a public health concern in Europe and other regions. Improving food literacy related to iodine may support hea...

Compact operators between Banach lattices

Abstract We summarize the existing state of knowledge, which has changed little in recent years, of compact linear operators between Banach lattices and point out various unanswered questions that seem still to be of interest.

Interstitial placemaking: unpacking the domains of relational urbanism of Belfast’s alleyways

This paper conceptualizes alleyways as interstitial spaces within which placemaking emerges through relational practices of inhabitation and care. Drawing on an extensive literature review of urban design interventions in urban interstices, it distils five recurring domains of pl...

Climatic factors as drivers of elevational shifts in the montane forests-paramo boundary over the last 15,000 years in the northwest Andes

In this study, conducted in the Belmira paramo in the northwestern Andes of Colombia, we used pollen records to track vegetation changes over the past 15 calibrated thousand years before AD 1950 (cal kyr BP). Employing ordination (NMDS), species indicator, and wavelet analysis, w...

‘The most advanced outpost of cultivation’: palynological evidence for cereal agriculture and population resilience in a marginal upland environment

ABSTRACT Upland farming in Europe is frequently assumed to have been limited and precarious, despite relict spade‐dug ridges providing firm evidence of past crop growing. Direct evidence for crop types in post‑Medieval to Modern (~since 1500 CE) uplands is rare; yet, in Ireland,...

Artificial intelligence-Enabled Lightweight Flood Segmentation Model with Polarization Fusion and Attention

Rapid and reliable flood maps are essential for emergency response and disaster management. However, many deep learning models for flood segmentation are computationally demanding, limiting real-time use and deployment on modest hardware. This paper presents PFALNet, a reduced-pa...

On tested Bousfield–Friedlander localizations

Abstract We show that a Bousfield–Friedlander localization of a model category of functors with respect to a set of test morphisms, as introduced by Bandklayder, Bergner, Griffiths, Johnson and Santhanam, can be characterized as a left Bousfield localization at a specific tensori...

Impact of diabetes mellitus on the menopausal experience: A scoping review

Abstract Aims To identify, appraise and synthesise the current evidence relating to symptoms, experiences, management and impact of menopause on QoL among women with type 1 diabetes (T1DM) or type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and to identify evidence gaps. Methods We conducted a scoping rev...

Dose-dependent microbiome, metabolome and lipidome shifts in a mouse model of colitis-associated colorectal cancer using azoxymethane and dextran sodium sulphate

Colorectal cancer (CRC) remains a major health burden, underscoring the need for continued research to improve screening methods and treatment outcomes. The colitis-associated azoxymethane (AOM) and dextran sodium sulphate (DSS) mouse model has proven valuable for CRC research, a...

Citizen finance for a just energy transition? Analysing UK experience, and exploring potential for smart local energy systems

The UK energy transition is projected to require billions of pounds of investment, not only in renewable supply, but also in demand-side technologies and system management. While this investment is expected to come from large scale commercial finance, both citizen finance and sma...

Synergistic effects of acetic acid and sulfate on the degradation of ternary and alkali-activated concretes

Degradation of concrete structures exposed to silage effluent is primarily caused by the organic acids destabilising calcium-bearing phases in the cementitious materials. The performance of a ternary cement (Portland cement, ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS) and silica...

Preserving Marginalised Identity through the Long Kesh Style Collection

Long Kesh/The Maze Prison (LK/M) is considered one of the most dominant symbols of the conflict between prisoners and government authorities during “The Troubles.” Holly Lennon has assembled hundreds of items, belonging to republican prisoners during the 1976-1981 prison protests...

Antimicrobial peptides for tuberculosis in a post-antibiotic era: from in vitro promise to therapeutic potential

Abstract Tuberculosis remains the leading cause of death from a single infectious pathogen, driven by prolonged treatment regimens and escalating drug resistance. Antimicrobial peptides represent a promising alternative therapeutic class with diverse mechanisms and limited resist...

Mapping with Uncertainty: Digitising and Preserving the 1826 Education Inquiry

The 1826 Second Report of the Commissioners of Irish Education Inquiry is the most extensive surviving survey of schooling in pre-Famine Ireland, recording teachers, pupil counts, and denomination-specific enrolment as reported by Protestant and Roman Catholic clergy. While found...

Rhomboid protease RHBDL2 is a calcium-activated suppressor of EGFR signalling in keratinocytes

Abstract Signalling via the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is indispensable for morphogenesis and tissue homeostasis. It is activated by extracellular ligands, typically released from transmembrane precursors by proteolysis. Ligand shedding activity is provided by the co...