National University of Ireland, Maynooth
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The Integration of Adult Education into Community-Based Drug Rehabilitation: An exploration to achieve best outcomes for service users.
No full textThis thesis investigates the potential of adult educational theories to enhance recovery prospects and life quality for individuals engaged in community-based addiction services. It examines the integration of adult education into drug treatment programs and its role in the empowerment of service users. The research concentrates on opportunities for improved life chances, long-term recovery outcomes, and the practices and policies that can amplify these outcomes. An analysis of adult education's effectiveness within these programs illustrates how educational and rehabilitative processes are mutually supportive
Timed picture naming norms for 800 photographs of 200 objects in English
No full textThe present study presents picture-naming norms for a large set of 800 high-quality photographs of 200 natural objects and
artefacts spanning a range of categories, with four unique images per object. Participants were asked to provide a single,
most appropriate name for each image seen. We report recognition latencies for each image, and several normed variables for
the provided names: agreement, H-statistic (i.e. level of naming uncertainty), Zipf word frequency and word length. Rather
than simply focusing on a single name per image (i.e. the modal or most common name), analysis of recognition latencies
showed that it is important to consider the diversity of labels that participants may ascribe to each pictured object. The norms
therefore provide a list of candidate labels per image with weighted measures of word length and frequency per image that
incorporate all provided names, as well as modal measures based on the most common name only
Iron Is Critical for Mucosal-Associated Invariant T Cell Metabolism and Effector Functions
No full textMucosal-Associated Invariant T (MAIT) cells are a population of innate T cells that play a critical role in host protection against bacterial and viral pathogens. Upon activation, MAIT cells can rapidly respond via both TCR-dependent and -independent mechanisms, resulting in robust cytokine production. The metabolic and nutritional requirements for optimal MAIT cell effector responses are still emerging. Iron is an important micronutrient and is essential for cellular fitness, in particular cellular metabolism. Iron is also critical for many pathogenic microbes, including those that activate MAIT cells. However, iron has not been investigated with respect to MAIT cell metabolic or functional responses. In this study, we show that human MAIT cells require exogenous iron, transported via CD71 for optimal metabolic activity in MAIT cells, including their production of ATP. We demonstrate that restricting iron availability by either chelating environmental iron or blocking CD71 on MAIT cells results in impaired cytokine production and proliferation. These data collectively highlight the importance of a CD71-iron axis for human MAIT cell metabolism and functionality, an axis that may have implications in conditions where iron availability is limited
Migration to and from Ireland, 2011 to 2024: Known Facts and Data Gaps. (MUSSI Working Paper Series 23)
No full textIn May and June 2024, election literature from people campaigning in the local and European
elections was posted through letterboxes across Ireland. Some of this literature made
reference to migration, with claims that "Ireland is Full" (from the Irish Freedom Party) and
calls for "an immediate halt on mass immigration" (from the National Party), mass
deportations, and the refusal of any more applications for asylum (from a variety of
Independents). Underpinning all of these various assertions and claims was the belief that the
level of immigration to Ireland was unacceptable. Yet, the election literature did not quantify
the scale of immigration, preferring to focus on emotions rather than facts.
This paper outlines the known facts about migration to and from Ireland in the period from
2011 to 2024 (see Gilmartin 2012, 2013 for overviews of the period from 2000-2012). The
period covers the aftermath of the financial crash in Ireland and the subsequent (partial)
financial recovery, broader geopolitical instability, and a widespread international cost of
living crisis. The first section provides a brief overview of migrant stock – the numbers of
people living in Ireland at the date of the last Census. However, the main focus of the paper is
migration flows – the movements of people into and from Ireland. The second section details
migration to Ireland in the period between 2011 and 2024, and highlights the continuation of
more established migration patterns as well as the development of new patterns. The third
section presents migration from Ireland in the same period. In both sections, sources of
reliable information as well as the knowledge gaps that exist are discussed. The paper
concludes with a reflection on the state of migration to and from Ireland today
An investigation into how distributed creative communities engage in the creative process through a quantitative and qualitative analysis of Twitch Plays Pokémon’s narratives.
No full textThe aim of this thesis is to examine Twitch Plays Pokémon as an example of an online community engaged in distributed creative practice and to explore their creative process and the ways in which they understood the narratives that emerged from their creativity. How online communities engage in the creative process, and how individuals interpret their community’s creative work are important to understand, as internet communities have become increasingly prominent in people’s lives and artistic development.
Twitch Plays Pokémon (TPP) was a digital community that played the game Pokémon Red online in 2014, and during the sixteen days of play, they developed fiction and narratives to rationalise the events of their play in a distributed creative process. Through analysing these narratives and examining the development of particular elements over time, this thesis aims to further our understanding of the social processes of creativity and how individuals interact with a broader creative community when faced with conflicts. To reinforce the qualitative analysis provided in this thesis quantitative analysis of the corpus of comments from Twitch chat and Reddit highlight trends within the data.
This thesis makes use of theories of distributed creativity (Sawyer and DeZutter, 2009), the role of conflict in creativity (Rank, 1989), the narreme1 (Hills, 2002) to form the creative engine model to explain the distributed creative process. Narremes are combined with the concept of hyperdiegetic narratives where much of the narrative is formed by the reader (Bronwen Thomas, 2011) to explain how individuals understand the creative work of their community. Through this analysis, this thesis identifies a simple creative process that shows how a narrative emerges as well as how individuals understand the broad and contradictory interpretations. The creative model may aid in studies of other distributed creative groups, and the narremes interaction with hyperdiegetic narratives provides a model for understanding how an individual forms a complete narrative from the creative work of a distributed creative community
How do we think in movements? Learning, knowledge and struggle
No full textIn June 2003, I was standing over a photocopier running off programmes for an activist
get-together in inner-city Dublin. Over that weekend, perhaps 150 activists crowded
into the rooms of an old Georgian house, now a trade union social club, to share their
experiences of organising – how to carry out direct action, how to make alliances
between movements, how to deal with burnout, how to work with internal diversity,
how to build alternative media, in the fifth of a series of “Grassroots Gatherings
Exploiting Fano resonance in wave energy systems
No full textEnergy maximising control of wave energy converters (WECs) typically results in exaggerated motion of the device, with consequent increases in mooring and other forces which can adversely affect WEC lifetime. In addition, the exaggerated motion typically increases the incidence of nonlinear hydrodynamic effects, confounding linear analysis upon which many WEC control design paradigms are based. This paper explores the potential to exploit Fano resonance in a wave energy context, where the WEC body remains relatively stationary, while the active power take-off elements are well exercised. Preliminary results suggest that significant WEC body motion reduction is possible, with a modest reduction in energy capture
Carbon monoxide licensing of MSCs enhances their efficacy through autophagy-mediated miRNA mechanisms
No full textSepsis is a complex condition leading to multiple organ failure including the development of acute respiratory distress syndrome
(ARDS) secondary to infection. The mortality rate of sepsis is 40%–60%,1 indicating an
unmet need for the development of novel
therapeutics for this condition. Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are known for
their immunomodulatory and cytoprotective
effects; however, their efficacy as a cellular
therapy for sepsis has been disappointing,
with less than �50% of patients responding
to treatment. Thus, strategies to enhance
MSC efficacy to increase the response rates
in patients are eagerly awaited
Relative age and biological maturity-related selection biases in male youth soccer across different competitive levels within a national association
No full textObjectives and Methods:
This study aimed to examine whether biological maturation and relative age selection biases existed and varied by level of competition (regional, national, and international) in Under-15 soccer players (n = 951) within the Swedish Football Association’s male player pathway. A secondary aim was to examine the relationship between relative age and body height, body weight, predicted adult height, percentage of predicted adult height (PAH%), maturity Z-score, and biological age to chronological age offset.
Results:
The results showed a significant bias (p < 0.001), ranging from trivial-to-small in favour of relatively older players, with the most notable increase between the regional and national levels. There were also significant moderate-to-large biases in favour of early maturing players (p < 0.001), increasing in magnitude with levels of competition. PAH% (p < 0.001) and body weight (p = 0.014) showed the strongest differences across selection levels, where the bias compared to regional level was 0.23 standard deviations (SD) for PAH% at national level and 0.41 SD at international level, while body weight appeared to be particularly related to international team selection (0.36 SD in bias). Relative age showed a moderate positive correlation with PAH% (r = 0.38), but only trivial correlations with all the other biological and physical variables examined (r=-0.05–0.11).
Conclusions:
The lack of association between relative age and the estimates of biological maturity timing and the additional physical characteristics suggests that relative age and biological maturity are distinct constructs. We encourage critical examination of how associations select young players for national talent programmes; current practices significantly diminish the chances of selection for those who are late maturing and relatively younger
Race, Rescue, Rehome: Irish Greyhounds and the Multi-Species Family
No full textThis PhD research project examines the everyday practices, emotions, and senses in the circulation of working greyhounds from the racing industry to animal rescue organisations then onwards to pet homes as family members in Ireland. Greyhounds are not ‘good’ working dogs. In contrast to police dogs or hunting dogs, they have a short working life and work independently from a handler. Nor are they ‘good’ pets. Adult greyhounds need ‘petification’ training to adjust to household sounds, learn good manners, and become housetrained. These unique qualities of the greyhound confound their categorisation. Working life can be brutal for these dogs. As exposed in the media, Irish greyhounds are found shot, drowned, or beaten to death, some with their ears cut off to remove their identification tattoos (Swords 2012; Shouldice and Ryan 2019). Each year €500m is generated for the exchequer through the greyhound industry, yet budgetary considerations for the 6,000 racers retiring annually are minimal. Through fine-tuned ethnographic research I document how current and former greyhound trainers describe their lived experience as responsible members of the greyhound community. Irish animal welfare organisations are working to grant animals such as greyhounds the right to a home and retirement - a privilege usually reserved for humans. This thesis firstly explores the concerns and practices of volunteers specialising in greyhound welfare, foster and rehoming and the complex role they have in managing the industry’s wastage. Secondly, the thesis engages with the shifting debate in anthropology to define the ‘Irish family’. In Ireland, this is evident through social legislation in hard-fought referendums, for divorce in 1995, marriage equality in 2015 and abortion in 2018, to the degree that the New York Times (Hakim and Dalby 2015) referred to Ireland as the vanguard of social change. At the same time, family practices are changing and the number of Irish households keeping pets has increased to 61%. Nearly all those homes consider their pets as members of the family. The core focus of this research tracks the series of transformations a racing greyhound undergoes as it moves from revenue generator to retiree. As one node in a chain of actors, I follow its progress from working animal to pet and ethnographically document how relationships change in line with shifts in its social role. I question how the introduction of a greyhound-as-pet transforms the multisensory household, family routines and is generative of novel relationships. This research examines multiple points of the human and canine lifespans. Their respective stage-of-life can significantly impact their ability to adapt to these domestic transformations and reveals the complexity of how family is made. Taking an example of canines in Ireland, this thesis asks have anthropological studies of the Irish family missed a vital ingredient