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Book Review: Educational research practice in Southern contexts: recentring, reframing and reimagining methodological canons: edited by Sharlene Swartz, Nidhi Singal and Madeleine Arnot, Oxon, Routledge, 2024, 359pp., £35.69 (paperback) and available Open Access, ISBN 9781003355397
No full textBook Review: Opening with a sketch of the rather tense landscape of contemporary educational scholarship, Swartz,
Singal, and Arnot, present a pressing aim to “open up the debate about ‘what works’ when researching Southern contexts” (p. 1). The editors’ deep reflection on this challenge impressively highlights their focus not just on the level of method, as so many edited volumes on research methods do; this itself revealing the effects of coloniality, which has sheared critical imaginaries from the production of knowledge fuelled by the “cognitive perspective of Eurocentrism” and a “growing techno critization” of knowledge production(Quijano, 2002). Instead, the focus goes deeper to encompass ontological and epistemological concerns, prior to “learning about first-hand experience of conducting research in such[Southern] contexts” to “recognise different cultural ways of being, knowing, and doing”(p. 1; original emphases), that lie outside the dominant Northern Anglophone systems of understanding, which have been deeply imbricated in domination and violence. Subsequently, the organisation and structure of this book is harmonious to the editors’ overarching goals and encourages the reader to engage with a diverse, robust and situationally rich volume of scholarship, taking them through themes of Centring, Reframing and Reimagining approaches to educational research, informed by postcolonial and decolonial perspectives
Climate variability conceals emerging hydrological trends across Great Britain
No full textDetecting a climate change signal from observed trends in river flows and hydrological extremes is challenging given the limited length of observations and the effects of internal climate variability. There has been an increasing call to better integrate historical observations with model projections, particularly given apparent inconsistencies between observed and projected hydroclimate trends. Here we use the UK as a case study of a region with apparent incongruity between past trends and future projections, such as observed summer wetting but broad agreement between climate models of reduced summer rainfall and river flows. Applying dynamical adjustment shows empirically that internal atmospheric circulation variability was a dominant factor in the observed positive summer rainfall trends over 1981–2010. Characterising the impacts of internal climate variability is crucial to fully appraising the range of possible hydrological extremes in current and future climate.
Hence, we use a single model initial condition large ensemble (SMILE), with RCP8.5 forcing, to drive hydrological models at 190 catchments to explore the wide range of past and future river flow and hydrological drought trends that could arise due to internal variability. The results place the observed trends in context, showing that large ensembles are needed to fully capture the range of variability. This includes robust drying and wetting trends that could have occurred, thus in part reconciling the fact that observed trends may at first seem inconsistent with projections. Our results further show that the timing of a robust climate change signal above historical variability (i.e., a Time of Emergence) in river flows may remain obscured for decades due to the range of hydrological variability. There are however clear hotspots, such as decreasing low flows in southwest England, with an imminent ToE. However, a late ToE does not negate the potential for increased risk and adaptation
measures should be formulated before a statistically significant climate signal emerges
Broadband Coherent anti-Stokes Raman Spectroscopy for Single-Cell Imaging
No full textIn the clinical context microscopy still plays a pivotal role in analysing cells with a range of downstream
analyses available. The choice of which is usually dependent on the information required,
such as the level of protein expression, genetic marker identification or cell population estimation.
Many cell analyses are optical in nature, but use either bulk properties that are unspecific or where
measurement is based on pre-labelling the sample. Alternatively, Raman spectro-microscopic
approaches are highly attractive for cell diagnostics as they provide a molecular fingerprint of a
cell that is very sensitive to the cell micro-environment, is label-free and can be non-destructive.
There is however common understanding that the rate of signal generation is too low for use in
high-throughput scenarios, such as for clinical screening and diagnosis. Broadband CARS (BCARS)
is a spectroscopic technique that probes the same molecular vibrations as Raman spectroscopy using
coherent excitation by employing focused ultrafast laser pulses. The resulting signal obtained can
be orders of magnitude stronger than conventional Raman scattering because it is a nonlinear effect.
In this thesis, BCARS is investigated as a tool for single cell imaging, with the ultimate goal of
label-free single-cell classification and high-throughput imaging. Exogenous fluorochromes were
not used in any of the samples studied in this thesis. In this work, single cell imaging consisted of
preparing an adequate cell sample, acquiring a hyperspectral dataset, where each point in the image
corresponds to a Broadband CARS spectrum, and finally, interpreting the molecular information. In
order to reach this capability, a highly optimised BCARS opto-electronic system was constructed,
consisting of a commercial ultrafast laser, a modified microscope and several optical elements. The
microscope was rigorously tested on non-biological samples such as pure solvents and microplastics,
which enabled the tuning of the optical parameters of the system such as its resolution. After
system optimisation much work was done on developing a sample targeting procedure and an
automated software program was developed to enable scanning of images. Finally, bespoke data
analysis procedures were developed and implemented in several single-cell image studies that were
of relevance to clinical diagnostics
A Capital Perspective on the Psychological Contracts of Career Novices. A qualitative process study exploring the capital accumulation and psychological contract evolution of undergraduate intern career novices
No full textPsychological contract (PC) theory has garnered significant attention proving crucial in understanding contemporary employment relationships. Defined as “an individual’s beliefs regarding the terms of conditions of a reciprocal exchange agreement” (Rousseau 1989:123), the PC is envisioned as an exchange schema that evolves over time. However, the study of PCs often lacks consideration of time and the impact of social context, despite calls to address these gaps. This PhD aims to investigate the construction and evolution of the PC, with a career novice sample, emphasising the influence of temporal dynamics and social context.
Utilising a qualitative individual-level process methodology, data were collected from 30 undergraduate interns over 12-15 months, using Bourdieu’s theory of practice (1977) as a complementary theoretical framework to the PC. Bourdieu’s concepts of capital, habitus, and field, provide a lens to examine the PC as a dynamic social exchange influenced by the broader social context. The study argues that Bourdieu’s theory can enhance understanding of the PC by highlighting the interplay between individual and social factors and their evolution.
Despite being theorised as dynamic, much PC research assumes a static view, neglecting temporal processes and social influences. This PhD addresses these gaps by exploring the construction and evolution of the PC within the context of undergraduate internships. The study's findings indicate that the accumulation and depletion of various forms of capital underpin the dynamic PC exchange, and that capitals operate in a mutually influencing and reinforcing manner. The study also captures interns’ perceptions of which organisational practices enhanced or hampered their accumulation of capitals.
In conclusion, this research contributes to PC theory by integrating Bourdieu’s sociological concepts, offering a nuanced understanding of the PC as a temporally and socially embedded construct. The findings provide valuable insights for researchers, practitioners, educators, and interns
Integrative analysis of the physiological, seasonal, and genetic influences on bovine milk oligosaccharide production and associated protein profiles
No full textCentral to the advancement of Irish dairy is the optimisation of whole colostrum/milk for improved calf health, and adding value to commercial products, such as bringing infant-formula compositionally closer to breast milk. Bovine milk has reduced diversity and yield of health-promoting oligosaccharides (OS), and their valuable effects are largely lost to formula-fed infants. To address this discrepancy, natural optimisation of bovine milk oligosaccharide (BMO) quantity and composition was investigated, by assessing key factors influencing their production. OS profiles revealed colostrum samples, Jersey cows, and 2nd-4th parity cows contained highest OS concentrations and highlighted prolific correlates (3-FL, DSLNT). Furthermore, high inter-cow colostrum variation revealed a wide range of BMO production, with 10 cows producing much higher (> 50% increase compared to mean) total OS concentrations. Three OS traits (LNnH, LSTa, DSLNT) reported heritabilities greater than 0.59 (P < 0.01). However, GWAS analysis reported no significantly associated SNPs after FDR (q < 0.05), with environmental factors significantly contributing to phenotypic variance. This work is the first to report bovine colostral OS hertabilities and paves the way for necessary additional GWAS studies to assess the feasibility of selective breeding initiatives including OS production in the future. Like BMO, specific milk proteins exhibit health-promoting properties. The effect of day post-partum and parity on the global protein profile during early lactation was investigated to expand proteome coverage/characterisation and offer an Irish context to previous analyses. Protein concentration decreased significantly after day 0 before stabilising. Overall, 471 proteins were identified across all samples; 199 protein groups showed altered relative abundance by day of lactation (fold change ≥2, adjusted-P <0.05), but none were altered significantly by parity. Colostrum had the highest levels of immune-related proteins. Subsequently, the association between BMO production and the protein profile of colostrum was explored to improve our holistic understanding of the global milk environment. Comprehensive characterisation of the colostral protein profile from high, mid-range, and low oligosaccharide producing cows (HOP, MOP, LOP) was carried out through analysis of the unfractionated colostrum, extracellular vesicle (EV), and cell fractions. The HOP had significantly higher levels of total protein than LOP. The unfractionated samples of HOP are associated with high levels of gastrointestinal modulatory proteins. In comparison, the EV fraction of the LOP contained higher relative abundances of immune-related proteins. This integrative approach allowed for the characterisation of distinct compositional profiles which may inform selection criteria for naturally enhanced colostrum, potentially targeting immuno-compromised calves and/or for use as a value-added starting material for powder products
Opinion 2/13 and Accession to the ECHR
No full textOpinion 2/13, handed down just before Christmas 2014, is a landmark decision in both European Union (EU) human rights law and EU external relations law. It showed that the EU’s rhetorical commitment to international human rights protection is not necessarily matched by action: Opinion 2/13 was the second time the Court of Justice put the brakes on the EU’s ambition to become a party to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) for reasons rooted in the EU’s constitutional set-up. Having comprehensively assessed the fairly elaborate ECHR Draft Accession Agreement (DAA), the CJEU provided the yardstick for any future attempt at accession: the constitutional hurdles identified will have to be taken for any reworked DAA to pass muster. The Opinion is also a landmark judgment in the wider field of EU external relations. By clarifying and strengthening the principle of the autonomy of the EU legal order, the Court reiterated the legal limits governing the EU’s ability to integrate into the wider international order at a time when EU external relations and EU treaty-making are becoming increasingly important
Now You’re Talking... Old Irish Towards a conversational approach to teaching Old Irish
No full textThis thesis explores the possibilities of developing communicative approaches to the
teaching of Old Irish to absolute beginners, also providing possible options to
implement this practice. After an analysis of the communicative approaches applied to
the teaching of Latin and Ancient Greek since the Renaissance (Chapter 1), the focus is
switched to the Old Irish learning materials published since the first full description of
the language (second half of the 19th century), which are reviewed one by one in
Chapter 2. In Chapter 3, I introduce my own project for an Old Irish textbook based on
the conversational approach and explain its main principles. Chapter 4 is instead
focused on advanced beginners and their serious need for ‘bridge texts’, that is, reading
texts that facilitate and foster the transition from the textbook to original literature. I will
also discuss the option of producing such texts by translating existing literary works and
the issues that this kind of translation may raise. Chapter 5 provides materials that
exemplify my endeavours towards innovative approaches to Old Irish language
teaching
Climate change turns warm summer days in England into health threat
No full textWorld Weather Attribution uses weather observations and climate models to understand how climate change influences the intensity and likelihood of extreme weather events. The studies also assess the role of human vulnerability and exposure in the impacts to highlight the actions needed to prepare for changing weather extremes.
WWA performed a super rapid analysis, analysing observations only on this early summer heat in the Southeast of the UK, defined (1) by the official heatwave definition of reaching 28°C in many of the so-called home counties and greater London (dark red region in figure 1, Met Office) and (2) the hottest predicted day in the same area. While this is not a full attribution study, the results are in agreement with the study undertaken in July 2022 over a similar region (Zachariah et al., 2022), thus we have high confidence in the results. calm, sunny days and gradually rising temperatures
Ogam, cryptography and healing charms in the nineteenth century: observations on ‘The Minchin Manuscript’
No full textOgam is well known as a writing system invented for the Irish language and
used extensively for inscriptions on stone monuments across Ireland and
Britain between the late fourth and seventh centuries. Although the script has
primarily been examined in the context of early medieval archaeology and
epigraphy, its long afterlife as an integral part of Irish manuscript culture from
the medieval to modern periods has also been acknowledged. The present contribution seeks to add to the existing scholarship on manuscript ogam by discussing the transmission of ideas about the script as a cryptic device into the
nineteenth century, with a particular focus on a recently discovered notebook,
National Library of Scotland (Edinburgh) Advocates’ Manuscript 50.3.11 (or
‘The Minchin Manuscript’), which consists almost entirely of healing charms
written in ogam
Optimisation of heterogeneous wave energy converter arrays: A control co-design strategy
No full textThe commercial development and deployment of wave energy converters (WECs) will require arranging these
devices in groups known as ‘arrays’, similar to the deployment other large-scale renewable energy systems, such
as wind farms, or tidal arrays. This study explores a novel control co-design (CCD) strategy for heterogeneous
arrays of point absorber-type WECs, focusing on the simultaneous optimisation of buoy hull geometry and
array layout to harness multi-directional wind and swell wave energy. The WEC array operates under a newly
developed global centralised control algorithm, which supports displacement constraints, but allows for the
assessment of array performance in the frequency domain. This approach has the potential to significantly
speed up the numerical solution of the control co-design optimisation problem, compared to more traditional
time-domain-based methods. The array optimisation problem is solved using a global optimisation method.
The performance function aims to optimise the positive network effect of interactions between devices in the
array, while simultaneously considering cost issues, quantified by device sizes. The investigation identifies
optimal device geometry and array layouts for clusters of three, four, and five WECs, in two different wave
climates: Irish and Portuguese coasts, allowing the sensitivity of optimal solutions to different wave climates
to be studied