National University of Ireland, Maynooth
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Human Rights Approach to Accessibility for Visitors with Disabilities in Museums. Reflections from the DANCING Project.
No full textThe convergence of late neoliberalism and post-pandemic scientific optimism in the configuration of scientistic learnification
No full textThe forces of neoliberalism have profoundly reconfigured the landscape of educational policy and discourse, shifting focus from democratic values-based conceptions to exigencies for effective learning. The onset of the global recession of 2008, coupled with the ongoing effects of the global pandemic have resulted in the centring of crises discourses as fundamental to state strategies for educational policy. This paper adopts the theoretical conception of “late neoliberalism”, structured through assemblage theory, to discuss the significance of these impacts in Irish education, with references to the United Kingdom and international contexts as appropriate, reflecting the globalising force of neoliberalism. In so doing, I also draw on perspectives from Leo Strauss’ considerations of political philosophy with its critique of liberal society in order to refocus attention on the undercurrent ideology of scientism, which is masked in attempts to establish veils of neutrality in the knowledge basis of educational policy reformation. I argue that the recent crises have intensified the scientistic ideology that underpins a number of policy moves drawing on examples from both national and international contexts. I conclude the discussion by drawing upon Biesta's critical analysis of the learnification agenda in order to present the challenge of becoming “redemocratised” in our orientations to educational discourses
The experience of stigma and concealment in multiple sclerosis.
No full textDespite a growing acceptance of chronic health conditions, people with multiple sclerosis can experience
stigma. We aimed to understand the extent, nature, and predictors of stigma in multiple sclerosis (MS) and to
explore how this relates to MS concealment. A mixed-methods cross-sectional survey (n = 242), designed
with public and patient involvement, was conducted in October–November 2023. MS stigma was measured
using a nine-item scale, along with questions on stigma experiences and sources. Hierarchical regression
analysis explored sociodemographic, health, and psychosocial predictors of stigma, while reflexive thematic
analysis identified stigma experiences described. The hierarchical regression model predicted 70% of
variance in stigma scores, with stigma associated with higher loneliness (β = .38, p < .001), lower MS selfefficacy (β = −.21, p < .001), lower self-rated health (β = −.19, p < .001), female gender (β = −.16, p < .01),
progressive MS type (β = −.15, p < .01), and greater difficulty in making ends meet (β = −.13, p = .01).
Only 10% of participants had never experienced MS stigma, with themes of misunderstanding, isolation/
exclusion, unwanted inputs, accessibility struggles, medical disregard, and personal stigma described.
Higher anticipated stigma predicted higher levels of MS concealment. Overall openness of individual MS
symptoms varied, suggesting that some MS symptoms are more stigmatized than others. Findings highlight
how the experience of stigma in MS can take many different forms, with implications for MS disclosure.
While certain sociodemographic and health factors put people with multiple sclerosis at risk, interventions
that increase MS self-efficacy and reduce loneliness may also reduce stigma. Raising awareness of MS and
increasing accessibility of services offer ways in which stigma can be reduced at a societal level
War veterans, minorities and crisis points in Yugoslav welfare
No full textThis article provides an analytical overview of welfare policymaking and provision in the twentieth century in Yugoslavia at three deci-sive historical junctures. Those are: the Kingdom of Yugoslavia after the First World War; the socialist state after 1945; and the rump ‘Yugoslavia’ after the break-up of the state in 1991. In each of these periods welfare policies were crisis-driven, a response to massive social and economic upheaval caused by war, but they were also a reflection, of course, of the political ideals and the values of the state in which they were formed. The authors argue that the Yugoslav welfare state in its various incarnations was in part a response to socio-economic crisis caused by war, in part a mediation and an adaptation of the welfare regime it replaced (rather than a complete tabula rasa), and in part an articulation of the aspirations for national politics and citizenship held by the incoming leadership of the state. This comparative study of three important moments in Yugoslavia’s welfare history, then, offers an opportunity to look anew at the social history of the state itself. Study of the Yugoslav welfare model, or rather models, helps us understand the larger political transformations that were bound up in the lifespan of the South Slav state, how the state thought about and created minorities through welfare regimes, and how welfare policies withstood (or not) socio-economic crisis
Ar Ais chuig an Am atá le Teacht le Beo agus Raja. Scéal ón mBithgheilleagar Fadó
No full textThe Froebel Department, Maynooth University is a partner in the Horizon Europe Project BioBeo. BioBeo introduces new thinking and approaches in education on the circular bioeconomy across Europe. This comic aims to share to children in primary school (5th and 6th class) and to local communities the concept of a bioeconomy through an engaging journey back in time with Beo and Raja
Chief executive officer’s dark triad personality and firm's degree of internationalization: The mediating role of ambidexterity
No full textThis study empirically examines the relationships among CEOs’ dark triad personality (narcissism, psychopathy,
and Machiavellianism), ambidexterity, and firms’ internationalization behavior. Dark triad personality traits
have attracted growing attention in the fields of psychology and organizational behavior due to their influence
on individual decision-making, particularly by individuals in executive leadership roles. We extend research on
dark triad personality to international business (IB) and examine the link between IB decision-makers’ personality traits and firms’ IB outcomes. Our research highlights the complex dynamics shaping firm internationalization, with both the CEO’s dark triad personality and ambidexterity playing significant roles in driving firm
internationalization outcomes. An analysis of 405 firms from the United Kingdom and the United States reveals
that ambidexterity partially mediates the relationship between dark triad personality and the degree of internationalization and that firms pursuing internationalization may benefit from CEOs with a dark triad personality
Teachers learning to use student voice in primary physical education – ready, steady, go!
No full textPrimary physical education lags behind student voice developments in research and practice internationally (Gillett-Swan and Baroutsis, 2023) and in post-primary physical education (Howley and
O’Sullivan, 2021; Iannucci and Parker, 2022a). Furthermore, evidence is lacking on how to guide
primary teachers learning to implement student voice pedagogies in physical education successfully. This research begins to fill this gap by focusing on the research question: What direction
can be taken from primary teachers’ experiences of learning to enact student voice in physical
education? Insight on what mattered in teachers’ learning to enact student voice can guide how
to promote student voice pedagogies as everyday primary physical education pedagogies.
Within a professional learning community (n=10), nine primary teachers enacted student voice
pedagogical strategies over a six-month period. Data sources included recordings of monthly collective meetings with teachers (n=7), mid-point (n=4) and/or end-point (n=6) individual interviews with the teachers, blog posts (n=2), conference presentations (n=2), and three focus
groups with children (n=12). Drawing on teachers’ and children’s experiences, a roadmap for teachers getting started with enactment of student voice pedagogies is presented with attention to:
starting small, starting smart, and not stopping. Teachers valued the outcomes of enactment of student voice pedagogies for the children in their classes in ways that changed their teaching
approaches and sustained their commitment to student voice pedagogies. The roadmap presented
can be used to support teachers learning how to enact student voice as an everyday pedagogy in
primary physical education
Correlation of Line-of-Sight Probabilities in Aerial-Terrestrial Communications: Modeling, Analysis, and Application
No full text—The line-of-sight (LoS) condition is important to the
quality of wireless communications, especially for millimeter-wave
(mmWave) communications which are more sensitive to blockages
than typical radio frequency (RF) communications. Considering
that one blockage would obstruct several channels simultaneously,
recently, researchers have studied the correlation of LoS probabilities among multiple channels in the horizontal plane and
shown its importance in system performance analysis. The main
missing aspect of existing literature in this direction is that the
heights of transceivers and blockages have not been considered
in the analysis of the LoS correlation. However, the emerging
hybrid cellular networks with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)
and reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RISs) deployed at various
altitudes necessitate the LoS analysis accounting for the vertical
dimension. In this paper, using stochastic geometry, we formulate
a novel joint-LoS-probability framework of two channels among
three aerial/terrestrial devices to analyze the LoS correlation both
in the horizontal and vertical dimensions. We derive the expression
of the conditional and joint LoS probabilities. The proposed framework combines (i) accuracy (verified in simulation), (ii) generality
(from adjustable parameters of the channels and environments),
and (iii) fitting ability (from a cylindrical blockage model to a
non-cylindrical blockage model). The numerical results show that
the correlation is quite strong when the angle between the two
communication channels is small, while it becomes weaker as this
angle increases. Moreover, we introduce a potential application of
the joint LoS probability in the optimal deployment of an aerial
device. Compared to optimization based on the independence assumption of the LoS probabilities, the improvement in the coverage probability intuitively clarifies the advantage of the proposed
joint-LoS-pprobability framework on the aerial-terrestrial network
design
Role of N343 glycosylation on the SARS-CoV-2 S RBD structure and co-receptor binding across variants of concern
No full textGlycosylation of the SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein represents a key target for viral evolution because it affects both viral evasion and fitness. Successful variations in the glycan shield are difficult to achieve though, as protein glycosylation is also critical to folding and structural stability. Within this framework, the identification of glycosylation sites that are structurally dispensable can provide insight into the evolutionary mechanisms of the shield and inform immune surveillance. In this work, we show through over 45 μs of cumulative sampling from conventional and enhanced molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, how the structure of the immunodominant S receptor binding domain (RBD) is regulated by N-glycosylation at N343 and how this glycan’s structural role changes from WHu-1, alpha (B.1.1.7), and beta (B.1.351), to the delta (B.1.617.2), and omicron (BA.1 and BA.2.86) variants. More specifically, we find that the amphipathic nature of the N-glycan is instrumental to preserve the structural integrity of the RBD hydrophobic core and that loss of glycosylation at N343 triggers a specific and consistent conformational change. We show how this change allosterically regulates the conformation of the receptor binding motif (RBM) in the WHu-1, alpha, and beta RBDs, but not in the delta and omicron variants, due to mutations that reinforce the RBD architecture. In support of these findings, we show that the binding of the RBD to monosialylated ganglioside co-receptors is highly dependent on N343 glycosylation in the WHu-1, but not in the delta RBD, and that affinity changes significantly across VoCs. Ultimately, the molecular and functional insight we provide in this work reinforces our understanding of the role of glycosylation in protein structure and function and it also allows us to identify the structural constraints within which the glycosylation site at N343 can become a hotspot for mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 S glycan shield
Transboundary Climate Risks for the Island of Ireland (TCRII)
No full textTransboundary climate risks (TCRs) cross national borders. They are associated with climate change impacts
that propagate through different pathways to affect other countries and regions and result from climate change
adaptations made in one or more countries having repercussions for others. These emerging climate risks are
poorly studied, even though they could have significant impacts on a national scale. The Transboundary Climate
Risks for the Island of Ireland (TCRII) project undertook a literature review and worked with stakeholders to identify
approaches for the assessment of TCRs and synergies that can be leveraged on an all-island basis. The findings
informed recommendations for better accounting for these emerging risks, to realise the national climate objective
of achieving a climate-resilient economy and society by 2050