IPH response to Revised Regional Transportation Strategy 2011

The increase in population and vehicles has placed significant pressures on Northern Ireland’s transportation networks coupled with fiscal constraints and the need to reduce our environmental impacts.  The revised Strategy concentrates on moving people rather than vehicles, creating space on the networks for people and also for freight and on maintaining what is in place and using it in a smarter way.  At its core is a move towards greater sustainability which will contribute positively to growing the economy, improving the quality of life for all and reducing the transport impacts on the environment.

IPH response to Draft Regional Planning Guidelines for the Greater Dublin Area 2010-2022

The Regional Planning Guidelines (RPG) for the Greater Dublin Area 2010-2022 (draft) is a policy document which aims to direct the future growth of the Greater Dublin Area over the medium to long term and works to implement the strategic planning framework set out in the National Spatial Strategy (NSS) published in 2002.  A series of recommendations have been made to Local Authorities clearly linked to and supporting the national investment in transport, particularly public transport, under Transport 21.  The draft was prepared and agreed for public consultation. The IPH response  to the consultation reports on how the RPG may impact on health and makes recommendations to maximise opportunities for health gain and minimise health loss.

IPH response to Department for Regional Development public transport reform consultation

This is the IPH response to the Department for Regional Development's public transport reform consultation.

IPH response to Department for Regional Development Regional Transportation Strategy Review

Travel behaviour can make a significant contribution to physical activity levels and subsequent risk of poor health including conditions such as obesity.  DRD can play a key role in tackling obesity in Northern Ireland through the Regional Transportation Strategy. This is the IPH's response. The Institute of Public Health in Ireland (IPH) aims to improve health on the island of Ireland by working to combat health inequalities and influence public policies in favour of health.  The Institute promotes cooperation between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in public health research, training and policy advice. IPH acknowledges that health is influenced by a wide range of social determinants, including economic, environmental, social and biological factors.  Transport is one of the key determinants of health and IPH welcomes the opportunity to comment on the Department for Regional Development (DRD), Regional Transportation Strategy (RTS) Review.

Evaluation of two minimally invasive techniques for electroencephalogram recording in wild or freely behaving animals.

Insight into the function of sleep may be gained by studying animals in the ecological context in which sleep evolved. Until recently, technological constraints prevented electroencephalogram (EEG) studies of animals sleeping in the wild. However, the recent development of a small recorder (Neurologger 2) that animals can carry on their head permitted the first recordings of sleep in nature. To facilitate sleep studies in the field and to improve the welfare of experimental animals, herein, we test the feasibility of using minimally invasive surface and subcutaneous electrodes to record the EEG in barn owls. The EEG and behaviour of four adult owls in captivity and of four chicks in a nest box in the field were recorded. We scored a 24-h period for each adult bird for wakefulness, slow-wave sleep (SWS), and rapid-eye movement (REM) sleep using 4 s epochs. Although the quality and stability of the EEG signals recorded via subcutaneous electrodes were higher when compared to surface electrodes, the owls' state was readily identifiable using either electrode type. On average, the four adult owls spent 13.28 h awake, 9.64 h in SWS, and 1.05 h in REM sleep. We demonstrate that minimally invasive methods can be used to measure EEG-defined wakefulness, SWS, and REM sleep in owls and probably other animals.

Improving Dementia Services in Northern Ireland - A Regional Strategy - November 2011

Improving Dementia Services in Northern Ireland - A Regional Strategy - November 2011

Regional Eligibility Criteria for the Provision of Wheelchairs Through the Northern Ireland Wheelchair Service (PDF 2.20 MB)

A Guide for wheelchair users on regional eligibility criteria for the provision of wheelchairs through the Northern Ireland Wheelchair Service

Regional Hidden Harm Action Plan (PDF 2.21MB)

Regional Hidden Harm Action Plan

Preliminary regional rockfall hazard mapping using LIDAR-based slope frequency distribution and CONEFALL modeling

A factor limiting preliminary rockfall hazard mapping at regional scale is often the lack of knowledge of potential source areas. Nowadays, high resolution topographic data (LiDAR) can account for realistic landscape details even at large scale. With such fine-scale morphological variability, quantitative geomorphometric analyses become a relevant approach for delineating potential rockfall instabilities. Using digital elevation model (DEM)-based ?slope families? concept over areas of similar lithology and cliffs and screes zones available from the 1:25,000 topographic map, a susceptibility rockfall hazard map was drawn up in the canton of Vaud, Switzerland, in order to provide a relevant hazard overview. Slope surfaces over morphometrically-defined thresholds angles were considered as rockfall source zones. 3D modelling (CONEFALL) was then applied on each of the estimated source zones in order to assess the maximum runout length. Comparison with known events and other rockfall hazard assessments are in good agreement, showing that it is possible to assess rockfall activities over large areas from DEM-based parameters and topographical elements.

Imaging EEG synchronization in schizophrenia patients with S-estimator

Recently a new measure of the cooperative behavior of simultaneous time series was introduced (Carmeli et al. NeuroImage 2005). This measure called S-estimator is defined from the embedding dimension in a state space. S-estimator quantifies the amount of synchronization within a data set by comparing the actual dimensionality of the set with the expected full dimensionality of the asynchronous set. It has the advantage of being a multivariate measure over traditionally used in systems neuroscience bivariate measures of synchronization. Multivariate measures of synchronization are of particular interest for applications in the field of modern multichannel EEG research, since they easily allow mapping of local and/or regional synchronization and are compatible with other imaging techniques. We applied Sestimator to the analysis of EEG synchronization in schizophrenia patients vs. matched controls. The whole-head mapping with S-estimator revealed a specific pattern of local synchronization in schizophrenia patients. The differences in the landscape of synchronization included decreased local synchronization in the territories over occipital and midline areas and increased synchronization over temporal areas. In frontal areas, the S-estimator revealed a tendency for an asymmetry: decreased S-values over the left hemisphere were adjacent to increased values over the right hemisphere. Separate calculations showed reproducibility of this pattern across the main EEG frequency bands. The maintenance of the same synchronization landscape across EEG frequencies probably implies the structural changes in the cortical circuitry of schizophrenia patients. These changes are regionally specific and suggest that schizophrenia is a misconnectivity rather than hypo- or hyper-connectivity disorder.

Tackling Sexual Violence and Abuse - A regional Strategy 2008-2013 (PDF 20.2 MB)

Tackling Sexual Violence and Abuse - A regional Strategy 2008-2013

Disability Equipment Services in Northern Ireland Regional Summary (PDF 1815 KB)

March 2003 - main findings of the study, key recommendations and the way forward

Radiology VFM Studies Regional Summary July 1999 (PDF 1435 KB)

Report Published July 1999