University of Galway Research Repository
Open access to publications, including peer-reviewed articles, conference papers, working papers, reports, and other scholarly communications by University of Galway researchers.
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Publication N-Terminal protein complexation and assembly with a triangular sulfated macrocycle(American Chemical Society, 2025-04-10)We report two cocrystal structures of a mutant Ralstonia solanacearum lectin (RSL) in complex with the recently described sulfated terphen[3]arene (STP3). This triangular macrocycle bearing 12 sulfates exhibits interesting protein-binding modes including methionine encapsulation and insertion between surface-exposed loops. These two binding modes facilitate the overall crystal packing, which may benefit from the macrocycle rigidity. In addition to a promising tool for protein assembly and crystallization, the data have implications for lectin–heparan sulfate interactions.Publication Inequalities in childhood overweight and obesity: A call to strengthen upstream policy measures(Elsevier, 2025-07-09)The prevalence of overweight and obesity among children and adolescents across Europe is an ongoing public health crisis with both short and long-term consequences affecting health, wellbeing and society. Yet, efforts to address this crisis have mainly focused on individual behaviour change rather than addressing the social, structural and commercial determinants of obesity, leading to limited success and growing inequalities. In this commentary we advocate for system-level action. By presenting the most recent data on childhood and adolescent obesity prevalence in the WHO European region, we highlight persistent inequalities, both within and between countries, with a focus on gender, geography and socioeconomic factors. Comprehensive, evidence-based upstream policies can address these disparities, and we advocate for structural, fiscal and regulatory action; investment in accessible parks and recreational facilities; support for a health promotion schools approach and meaningful engagement with children and adolescent to develop programmes, policies and environments that support their health. Despite the recognition of this public health crisis and the evidence supporting effective policies, the implementation of obesity policies across Europe is limited. Key challenges include reliance on voluntary measures, resistance from commercial enterprises and the prioritization of economic growth over public health. Currently, a WHO/UNICEF Child and Adolescent Health and Wellbeing Regional Strategy for Europe and Central Asia is under development, with obesity as a priority area providing a pivotal opportunity to harness interest and momentum to effect change as outlined in this article. Obesity policy implementation must also be accompanied by ongoing monitoring of inequalities in obesity in Europe.Publication Assessing the phenotypes of cardiovascular disease: The multimodality imaging approach(University of Galway, 2025-07-10)Cardiovascular diseases remain the leading cause of global mortality, driven by the ageing population and the inherent complexity of vascular anatomy and hemodynamics. This doctoral thesis presents a comprehensive, multimodal imaging approach designed to enhance clinical decision-making, procedural accuracy, and long-term outcomes. It integrates three core pillars: advanced three-dimensional imaging with computational fluid dynamics, detailed phenotyping of epicardial coronary artery disease using noninvasive and invasive modalities, and a multimodality strategy to diagnose and manage coronary microvascular dysfunction. Novel metrics, such as a cumulative plaque burden index (CPBi), left ventricular myocardial blood flow percentage (LV%MYO), and microvascular resistance reserve (MRR), are introduced and validated. Collectively, this thesis recognises significant limitations and unmet needs in cardiovascular disease phenotyping while underscoring the transformative potential of multimodal imaging and computational tools, paving the way for more precise, patient-specific diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. This thesis is structured into three interrelated parts, each addressing a distinct facet of cardiovascular phenotyping: Part A: Advanced 3D Imaging and Computational Fluid Dynamics (Chapters 2–6) Reviews the evolution of virtual, augmented, and mixed realities in cardiovascular medicine and demonstrates their application—together with patient-specific CFD modeling—in planning complex interventions such as coronary bypass surgery, graft sizing, and managing iatrogenic aortic dissection. Part B: Phenotyping Epicardial Coronary Artery Disease (Chapters 7–12) Explores how noninvasive coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA), fractional flow reserve derived from CT, invasive pressure-wire pullbacks, and intravascular ultrasound can classify focal versus diffuse atherosclerosis. Highlights include the Heart Team paradigm, regional trends in stable chest-pain evaluation, the LV%MYO metric for revascularisation completeness, pressure gradient indices in FFR/iFR discordance, the impact of elevated lipoprotein(a), and the AI-driven CPBi. Part C: Multimodality Investigation of Coronary Microvascular Dysfunction (Chapters 13–20) Investigates the prevalence, mechanisms, and prognostic significance of microvascular dysfunction in ST-elevation myocardial infarction and angina with non-obstructive coronaries (ANOCA). Combines invasive indices (IMR, CFR, MRR), continuous thermodilution, exercise stress testing, novel biomarkers (TMAO), and the impact of severe COVID-19. Critically appraises angiography-derived IMR methodologies. A concluding chapter synthesises findings and outlines future research directions, emphasising personalised, image-guided therapies tailored to specific cardiovascular phenotypes.Publication It takes a village: Coordination and directionality in sustainable food systems(University of Galway, 2025-07-10)“It takes a village to raise a child” is a famous African proverb. Over the course of many hours of interviews with many different stakeholders in Uganda, there was an echo of this sentiment in working with agricultural cooperatives. In fact, one interviewed cooperative board member described his own cooperative as ‘a child learning to walk’. The strong, successful agricultural cooperatives operating in food systems today have been built over long periods of time with support from various policies, development programmes and individuals. In this thesis, the ‘village’ is explored in different ways. On the one hand, farmers are situated within local communities, interact with other local actors and receive support from various local partners. On the other hand, these farmers are part of the increasingly ‘global village’ of international markets and food systems; competing and collaborating with others to deliver their produce to markets. The current food systems in which these farmers operate face multiple social and environmental challenges. These challenges require cross-disciplinary and high impact solutions (Klerkx & Begemann, 2020; Kanter & Boza, 2020; Kok & Klerkx, 2023). In developing contexts, these challenges are often interlinked and exacerbated ‒ droughts, floods and other climate change disasters worsen food security and poverty rates. Many of these farmers are smallholders who organise themselves into farmer groups and cooperatives to improve their position within agricultural food systems (Drivas & Giannakas, 2010; Bijman et al, 2016; Bijman & Hohler, 2023). There is increasing global acknowledgement from researchers, multilateral organisations and policy makers that in order to help producers tackle wicked challenges, current food systems need to be transformed, and a wide range of actors need to coordinate more closely (Pigford et al., 2018; Weber et al., 2020). This suggests a sharpened focus on directionality within food systems towards environmental and social goals. As such, this thesis explores relevant systems-thinking and frameworks which provide deeper understanding on when, how and to what degree actors coordinate for more sustainable and equitable food systems as well as the drivers for coordination. The thesis focuses on two seemingly different and unrelated agricultural contexts: Ireland and Uganda. Through a central case study of Tororo Groundnut Growers Cooperative Society (TGGC) in Uganda which is supported by an Irish International Development Organisation (Self Help Africa) and a local Irish social enterprise (Partners in Learning), these contexts are woven together.Publication Homophobia and transphobia span identification in low-resource languages(Elsevier, 2025-06-26)Online platforms have become prevalent because they promote free speech and group discussions. However, they also serve as platforms for hate speech, which can negatively impact the psychological well-being of vulnerable people. This is especially true for members of the LGBTQ＋ community, who are often the targets of homophobia and transphobia in online environments. Our study makes three main contributions: (1) we developed a new dataset with span-level annotations for homophobia and transphobia in Tamil, English, and Marathi; (2) we employed advanced language models using BERT-based architectures, Conditional Random Field (CRF), and Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory (BiLSTM) layers to enhance span-level detection of harmful content; and (3) we conducted benchmarking to evaluate the effectiveness of monolingual and multilingual models in detecting subtle forms of hate speech. The annotated dataset, which is collected from real-world social media (YouTube) content, provides diverse language contexts and enhances the representation of low-resource languages. The span-based detection approach enables models to detect subtle linguistic nuances, leading to more precise content moderation that accounts for cultural differences. The experimental results show that our models achieve effective span detection, which provides valuable information for creating inclusive moderation tools. Our research leads to the development of AI systems, and we aim to reduce the burden on moderators and improve the quality of online experiences for LGBTQ＋ vulnerable.
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