A Strategy for Health & Social Care Research and Development in Northern Ireland

The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS) is seeking your views on a A Strategy for Health & Social Care Research and Development in Northern Ireland Allowing for public holidays, the draft Strategy has been issued for a 13 week consultation period from 29 September 2014. åÊResponses must be received no later than 5pm on Friday 2 January 2015

Development of a Research Strategy for Nursing and Midwifery Research

  The Report of the Commission on Nursing recommended that the Nursing and Midwifery Policy Unit in the Department of Health and Children, in consultation with the appropriate bodies, should draw up a national strategy for nursing andmidwifery research. In response to the above the Chief Nurse at the Department of Health and Children convened a consultative committee, representative of those with a core interest in research to draft a research strategy for nursing and midwifery in Ireland Download the Report here

Men and Domestic Violence: What research tells us

Men and Domestic Violence: What research tells us In late 2000, the Department of Health and Children, in conjunction with the North Eastern Health Board, commissioned Kieran McKeown Limited, Social and Economic Consultants to prepare a literature review of research carried out in other jurisdictions Click here to download PDF 578kb Background Note PDF 10kb Peer Review 1 PDF 21kb Peer Review 2 PDF 17kb

Research Strategy for Nursing and Midwifery in Ireland

Research Strategy for Nursing and Midwifery in Ireland The Report of the Commission on Nursing (1998, para. 6.77) recommended that the Nursing Policy Division in the Department of Health and Children, in consultation with the appropriate bodies, draw up a national strategy for nursing and midwifery research. In response to the above, the Chief Nursing Officer at the Department of Health and Children convened a consultative committee to prepare a research strategy for nursing and midwifery in Ireland. This committee was representative of those with a core interest in nursing and midwifery research. Click here to download PDF 501kb

New developments of peace research: The impact of recent campaigns on disarmament and human security

The present text, based on previous work done by the authors on peace research (Grasa 1990 and 2010) and the disarmament campaigns linked to Human Security (Alcalde 2009 and 2010), has two objectives. First, to present a new agenda for peace research, based on the resolution/transformation of conflicts and the promotion of collective action in furtherance of human security and human development. Second, to focus specifically on collective action and on a positive reading of some of the campaigns that have taken place during the last decades in order to see how the experiences of such will affect the future agenda for peace research and action for peace.

Research Strategy for Nursing and Midwifery in Ireland 2003-2008. Review of Attainments

The Research Strategy for Nursing and Midwifery in Ireland (Department of Health and Children, 2003) was a response to the Commission on Nursing’s (Government of Ireland, 1998: p114) suggestion that a national strategy be developed to guide and support the emerging need for the professions of nursing and midwifery to develop a research base as a fundamental to practice. The Commission itself had found a dearth of published Irish nursing and midwifery research (Government of Ireland, 1998; Condell, 1998) due to a lack of policy direction and funding availability. Download document here

Men and Domestic Violence: What research tells us

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Research development of terahertz imaging systems

The electromagnetic radiation at a terahertz frequencies (from 0.1 THz to 10 THz) is situated in the frequency band comprised between the optical band and the radio band. The interest of the scientific community in this frequency band has grown up due to its large capabilities to develop innovative imaging systems. The terahertz waves are able to generate extremely short pulses that achieve good spatial resolution, good penetration capabilities and allow to identify microscopic structures using spectral analysis. The work carried out during the period of the grant has been based on the developement of system working at the aforementioned frequency band. The main system is based on a total power radiometer working at 0.1 THz to perform security imaging. Moreover, the development of this system has been useful to gain knowledge in the behavior of the component systems at this frequency band. Moreover, a vectorial network analyzer has been used to characterize materials and perform active raster imaging. A materials measurement system has been designed and used to measure material properties as permittivity, losses and water concentration. Finally, the design of a terahertz time-domain spectrometer (THz-TDS) system has been started. This system will allow to perform tomographic measurement with very high penetration resolutions while allowing the spectral characterization of the sample material. The application range of this kind of system is very wide: from the identification of cancerous tissues of a skin to the characterization of the thickness of a painted surface of a car.

MP2RAGE, a self bias-field corrected sequence for improved segmentation and T-1-mapping at high field

The large spatial inhomogeneity in transmit B, field (B-1(+)) observable in human MR images at hi h static magnetic fields (B-0) severely impairs image quality. To overcome this effect in brain T-1-weighted images the, MPRAGE sequence was modified to generate two different images at different inversion times MP2RAGE By combining the two images in a novel fashion, it was possible to create T-1-weigthed images where the result image was free of proton density contrast, T-2* contrast, reception bias field, and, to first order transmit field inhomogeneity. MP2RAGE sequence parameters were optimized using Bloch equations to maximize contrast-to-noise ratio per unit of time between brain tissues and minimize the effect of B-1(+) variations through space. Images of high anatomical quality and excellent brain tissue differentiation suitable for applications such as segmentation and voxel-based morphometry were obtained at 3 and 7 T. From such T-1-weighted images, acquired within 12 min, high-resolution 3D T-1 maps were routinely calculated at 7 T with sub-millimeter voxel resolution (0.65-0.85 mm isotropic). T-1 maps were validated in phantom experiments. In humans, the T, values obtained at 7 T were 1.15 +/- 0.06 s for white matter (WM) and 1.92 +/- 0.16 s for grey matter (GM), in good agreement with literature values obtained at lower spatial resolution. At 3 T, where whole-brain acquisitions with 1 mm isotropic voxels were acquired in 8 min the T-1 values obtained (0.81 +/- 0.03 S for WM and 1.35 +/- 0.05 for GM) were once again found to be in very good agreement with values in the literature. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Fathers and Families: research and reflection on key questions

This is the third report to be published by the Department of Health and Children under the Springboard Initiative. It is written to promote understanding and appreciation of the role of a fathers in family life. Download the Report here

Making Knowledge Work for Health: A Strategy for Health Research

Making Knowledge Work for Health: A Strategy for Health Research, provides a framework for the development of health research to enhance health and quality of life and help ensure that our research compares favourably with the rest of the world. I believe that an active research community working close to the delivery of health care in clinical settings, laboratories, the community, third-level institutions and the healthcare industry is critical to the improvement of the quality of health services generally. It is vital for professional development and career satisfaction of health service staff. It is also important for the translation of ideas into medical and IT products that can add value to our economy Download the Report here

Family Well-Being and Family Policy - A Review of Research on Benefits and Costs

This report is published under the Springboard Initiative. It is designed to assist in the process of mapping out the complex issues and data requirements which arise in developing policies for families and in finding actions which are known to promote family well-being Download the Report here