Maternal Vitamin D Status in Type 1 Diabetic Pregnancy: Impact on Neonatal Vitamin D Status and Association with Maternal Glycaemic Control

Objective: The first aim of this study was to assess 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25OHD) concentrations in women with type 1 diabetes (T1DM) during pregnancy, post-delivery and also foetal (cord blood) 25OHD concentrations and to examine relationships between these. The second aim of the study was to investigate potential interactions between maternal body mass index (BMI) and foetal vitamin D status. A further study aim was to examine potential relationships between maternal 25OHD and glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA_1c) throughout pregnancy.

Research Design and Methods: This was an observational study of 52 pregnant controls without diabetes and 65 pregnant women with T1DM in a university teaching hospital. Maternal serum 25OHD was measured serially throughout the pregnancy and post-delivery. Cord blood 25OHD was measured at delivery. 25OHD was measured by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS).

Results: Vitamin D deficiency (25OHD <25 nmol/L) was apparent in both the T1DM subjects and controls at all 3 pregnancy trimesters. Vitamin D levels in all cord blood were <50 nmol/L. Maternal 25OHD correlated positively with cord 25OHD at all 3 trimesters in the T1DM group (p= 0.02; p<0.001; p<0.001). 25OHD levels within cord blood were significantly lower for women with diabetes classified as obese vs. normal weight at booking [normal weight BMI <25 kg/m² vs. obese BMI >30 kg/m² (nmol/L±SD); 19.93±11.15 vs. 13.73±4.74, p= 0.026]. In the T1DM group, HbA_1c at booking was significantly negatively correlated with maternal 25OHD at all 3 trimesters (p= 0.004; p = 0.001; p= 0.05).

Conclusion: In T1DM pregnancy, low vitamin D levels persist throughout gestation and post-delivery. Cord blood vitamin D levels correlate with those of the mother, and are significantly lower in obese women than in their normal weight counterparts. Maternal vitamin D levels exhibit a significant negative relationship with HbA_1c levels, supporting a potential role for this vitamin in maintaining glycaemic control. 

So Great Is Their Love

A soundscape composition intended for installation in a sound art exhibition. This short project is a contribution to practice-led research that questions that nature of authorial identity, and the composer's responsibility for the sounds produced. First made public in The Braid, Ballymena, 25 September 2013

Adolescents’ relationship with God and internalizing adjustment over time: The moderating role of maternal religious coping

A growing literature supports the importance of understanding the link between religiosity and youths' adjustment and development, but in the absence of rigorous, longitudinal designs, questions remain about the direction of effect and the role of family factors. This paper investigates the bidirectional association between adolescents' relationship with God and their internalizing adjustment. Results from 2-wave, SEM cross-lag analyses of data from 667 mother/adolescent dyads in Belfast, Northern Ireland (50% male, M age = 15.75 years old) supports a risk model suggesting that greater internalizing problems predict a weaker relationship with God 1 year later. Significant moderation analyses suggest that a stronger relationship with God predicted fewer depression and anxiety symptoms for youth whose mothers used more religious coping.

For vulnerable families, continued postnatal care, provided by family midwives, is associated with improved maternal care and parent–child relationship

This paper illustrates how findings from two related studies can enhance nursing and midwifery practice through the evaluation of the effectiveness of a family midwives (FMs) intervention.

From Beijing with love: The global dimension of Bertolucci’s The Last Emperor

Famous for being the first foreign feature film that obtained permission to shoot in the Forbidden City, The Last Emperor (1987) is also one of the most ambitious and expensive independent productions of its time, awarded four Golden Globes and nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture. In addition, The Last Emperor can be considered as one of the first attempts of cinematic collaboration between West and East, in a period of cultural and economic transformations witnessed by China. This article aims to offer an overview of the production history of The Last Emperor, focusing on the co-production collaborations and the outcomes of a western auteur’s gaze on Chinese history. Questions of Orientalism, travel narrative and critical reception are taken into account in order to engage with the transnational implications of Bertolucci’s film and the western fascination with China.

Falling in love outwards: Eco-social work and the sensuous event

Summary: Social work is a discipline that focuses on the person-in-the-environment. However, the social domains of influence have traditionally received more attention from the profession compared with the impact of the natural world on human well-being. With the development of ecological theories, and growing threats to the environment, this gap has been addressed and now the notion of eco-social work is attracting more interest. This article builds on this corpus of work by exploring, and augmenting, the thinking of the philosopher, David Abram, and his phenomenological investigation of perception, meaning, embodiment, language and Indigenous experience. The implications for eco-social work are then addressed.

Findings: The development of Abram’s philosophical thesis is charted by reviewing his presentation of the ideas of the European phenomenologists, Edmund Husserl and Maurice Merleau-Ponty. It is argued that Abram uses phenomenology to explore the character of perception and the sensual foundations of language which, in Indigenous cultures, are connected with the natural world. A gap in Abram’s thinking is then revealed showing the need to set human perception and language within an understanding of power. Overall, this re-worked thesis is underpinned by a meta-narrative in which ecology engages with philosophy, psychology and Indigenous experience.

Applications: By grounding such ideas in Slavoj Žižek’s construct of the sensuous event, three applications within social work are evinced, namely: (i) reflecting on the sensuous event in social work education; (ii) rekindling the sensuous event with Indigenous Peoples; and (iii) instigating the sensuous event with non-Indigenous populations.