Research@THEA (Technological Higher Education Association)
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Universal design in design education: developing a framework of cross-continental perspectives.
Full text linkSince the 1990s, the principles of Universal Design have offered design educators overarching guidelines to ensure the greatest extent of users are included in the design process. Universal Design education has grown widely, in turn inspiring the development of Universal Design for Learning. Universal Design education for design programmes at university level is evolving with an emphasis on addressing global challenges in inclusion. As a result of this change, the conditions in which we embed Universal Design in programmes and curricula need to be understood in greater detail. In this short paper, we initiate research on embedding Universal Design in design education at university level in a global context. We have developed a draft framework by gaining the cross-continental perspectives and reflections of senior design educators working in South America and Europe. The framework shows that the conditions for embedding Universal Design in design education rely on the application of real-world research overlapping with the creation of suitable learning environments for Universal Design. The findings of this draft framework will be leveraged to develop a deeper understanding of Universal Design across continents. The next stage of this research will be to expand the study with design educators in Asia, North America, Australia/Oceania and Africa.ye
Exploring Imagined Temporalities in Resettlement Workers’ Narratives: Renegotiating Temporal and Emotional Boundaries in Post-Brexit Britain
Full text linkThis paper develops the concept of ‘imagined temporalities’ to explore multiple temporal subjectivities, time cultures, ‘myths’, and realities evident in interviews with resettlement workers who were part of the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme (VPRS) in Merseyside, United Kingdom (UK). Conducted in 2019, the interviews took place as the triggering of Article 50 signalled the withdrawal of the UK from the European Union (EU). This period of unprecedented social, economic, and political changes formed a crucial backdrop framing our interviewees’ narratives. The views of resettlement workers have been little explored and are employed here to complement the insights provided by work undertaken by others with refugees and asylum seekers. This research provides important insights into their perceptions of the interplay of factors that affect belonging and access to supports for refugees and asylum seekers, revealing wider, largely underreported, concerns.1 These include, their own personal experiences working in support services and system changes, driven by growing socio-political pressures that impact on community-building among refugees during their resettlement. Significantly, debates about “Brexit” and the UK’s political future, as well as heated public discussions of the historical legacies of colonialism which underpin the present treatment of migrants, are reflected in these resettlement workers’ views as well. Subsequently, this paper employs the concept of ‘imagined temporalities’ to explore how support workers understand the treatment of migrants by social and political systems—and their own personal struggles and hopes,—against this wider, divisive post-Brexit backdrop. Overall, the paper underlines the highly politicised space the resettlement workers operate in, where they balance the needs of service users in the midst of constraints imposed by overly rigid time regimes.ye
Bone formation by human paediatric marrow stromal cells in a functional allogeneic immune system
Full text linkAllogeneic stem-cell based regenerative medicine is a promising approach for bone defect repair. The use of
chondrogenically differentiated human marrow stromal cells (MSCs) has been shown to lead to bone formation
by endochondral ossification in immunodeficient pre-clinical models. However, an insight into the interactions
between the allogeneic immune system and the human MSC-derived bone grafts has not been fully achieved yet.
The choice of a potent source of MSCs isolated from pediatric donors with consistent differentiation and high
proliferation abilities, as well as low immunogenicity, could increase the chance of success for bone allografts. In
this study, we employed an immunodeficient animal model humanised with allogeneic immune cells to study the
immune responses towards chondrogenically differentiated human pediatric MSCs (ch-pMSCs). We show that ch differentiated pMSCs remained non-immunogenic to allogeneic CD4 and CD8 T cells in an in vitro co-culture
model. After subcutaneous implantation in mice, ch-pMSC-derived grafts were able to initiate bone minerali sation in the presence of an allogeneic immune system for 3 weeks without the onset of immune responses. Re exposing the splenocytes of the humanised animals to pMSCs did not trigger further T cell proliferation, sug gesting an absence of secondary immune responses. Moreover, ch-pMSCs generated mature bone after 8 weeks of
implantation that persisted for up to 6 more weeks in the presence of an allogeneic immune system. These data
collectively show that human allogeneic chondrogenically differentiated pediatric MSCs might be a safe and
potent option for bone defect repair in the tissue engineering and regenerative medicine setting.ye
Horizon Europe Applications: Time to consider the energy use impacts of AI on climate change
No full textIt is a little over a year ago since ChatGPT was launched in the public domain. In that relatively short period of time ChatGPT and its competitors have ignited an ongoing debate both within academia and the wider world. Despite resistance and concerns in some quarters Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been firmly embraced by many fields, most notably in universities (1), including in engineering education (2). It is highly probable that numerous applications currently being made to the €95.5 billion Horizon Europe Research & Innovation (R&I) funding program which runs until 2027 will involve an AI component of some kind (3)
Open Educational Resources for Teaching and Learning at TUS
No full textOpen Educational Resources (OER) can be defined as: “learning,
teaching and research materials in any format and medium that
reside in the public domain or are under copyright that have been
released under an open license, that permit no-cost access, re-use,
re-purpose, adaptation and redistribution by others.” 1
This compilation of OER was curated for teaching staff in the
Technological University of the Shannon: Midland and Midwest
(TUS), Co. Westmeath, Ireland, by library staff. This book provides
a selection of teaching and learning OER, primarily OER published
within the last five years, which we deem to be of high quality.yesAcknowledgements
Introduction
Why OER?
OER in Ireland
Digitally Enhanced Learning OER
3D printing
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Immersive technology
Lightboard technology
Inclusive Curriculum Design OER
Equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in education
Teaching, Learning and Assessment OER
Assessment
Irish higher education journals
Open education
Science, technology, engineering and mathematics
(STEM)
Team based learning (TBL)
Universal design for learning (UDL
Measurement of energy availability in highly trained male endurance athletes and examination of its associations with bone health and endocrine function
Full text linkPurpose
Despite the introduction of Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-s) in 2014, there is evidence to suggest that male endurance athletes still present with a high prevalence of low energy availability (LEA). Previous findings suggest that energy availability (EA) status is strongly correlated with impairments in endocrine function such as reduced leptin, triiodothyronine (T3), and insulin, and elevated bone loss. This study aimed to report the current EA status, endocrine function and bone health of highly trained Irish male endurance athletes.
Methods
In this cross-sectional study, participants (n = 3 triathletes; n = 10 runners) completed a 7-day testing period during the competition season using lab-based measures, to ascertain EA status, hormone level and rates of bone metabolism. Serum blood samples were obtained to assess hormone levels and markers of bone metabolism.
Results
Mean EA was < 30 kcal/kg lean body mass (LBM)/day in 76.9% of athletes. There was a strong association between LEA and low carbohydrate intake, and lower LBM. Mean levels of insulin, IGF-1 and leptin were significantly lower than their reference ranges. Elevated mean concentrations of β-CTX and a mean P1NP: β-CTX ratio < 100, indicated a state of bone resorption.
Conclusion
The EA level, carbohydrate intake, hormone status and bone metabolism status of highly trained male endurance athletes are a concern. Based on the findings of this study, more frequent assessment of EA across a season is recommended to monitor the status of male endurance athletes, in conjunction with nutritional education specific to EA and the associated risks.ye
Tailoring drug release in bilayer tablets through droplet deposition modeling and injection molding
Full text linkThis study explores the innovative production of personalized bilayer tablets, integrating two advanced
manufacturing techniques: Droplet Deposition Modeling (DDM) and Injection Molding (IM). Unlike traditional
methods limited to customizing dense bilayer medicines, our approach uses Additive Manufacturing (AM) to
effectively adjust drug release profiles. Focusing on Caffeine and Paracetamol, we found successful processing for
both DDM and IM using Caffeine formulation. The high viscosity of Paracetamol formulation posed challenges
during DDM processing. Integrating Paracetamol formulation for the over-molding process proved effective,
demonstrating IM’s versatility in handling complex formulations. Varying infill percentages in DDM tablets led to
distinct porosities affecting diverse drug release profiles in DDM-fabricated tablets. In contrast, tablets with highdensity
structures formed through the over-molding process displayed slower and more uniform release patterns.
Combining DDM and IM techniques allows for overcoming the inherent limitations of each technique independently,
enabling the production of bilayer tablets with customizable drug release profiles. The study’s results
offer promising insights into the future of personalized medicine, suggesting new pathways for the development
of customized oral dosage formsye
Studying the influence of aluminium in ADN/HTPB-based solid propellants
Full text linkAmmonium Dinitramide (ADN) combustion has been the subject of great interest over the
past few years due to consideration as a green oxidizer in solid rocket propellants. This study
is focused on predicting the flame structure of an ADN/HTPB and ADN/HTPB/Al sandwich
propellant. Initially, one-dimensional reactor modelling was carried out to implement the
detailed chemical kinetics for AP and ADN monopropellant. Detailed understanding on the
different combustion zones of ADN monopropellant was studied with implementation of one dimensional reactor modelling.
The results of one-dimensional studies were found to have
good correlation with the previous literature. The sensitivity analysis was performed to
understand the major species and dominant reaction in different burning zones. Initially,
sandwich model was tested on AP/HTPB sandwich propellant and subsequently it was noticed
that the findings were identical. The burn rate results of the AP/HTPB sandwich model were
validated with the existing literature and were found to be in close match. Followed by this
ADN/HTPB sandwich propellant was simulated using a detailed combustion chemistry using
215 reactions and 51 species were used to predict the flame structure across a wide range of
pressure. The physiochemical reactions that occur during the combustion of ADN and HTPB
are thoroughly examined by employing a complete gas phase combustion model. The
computational framework is based on mass, species concentration, and energy conservation
equations. For a pressure range of 0.6-6Mpa, the flame structure of the sandwich propellant
in different combustion zones was studied. The simulations were also carried out with the
addition of aluminum in a homogenized manner in ADN/HTPB sandwich. The gas phase
temperature was found to increase with the addition of aluminum. The addition of nano
aluminum was observed to have an influence on the flame structure and enhance the
performance significantly.ye
Boosting bacterial nanocellullose production from chemically recycled post-consumer polyethylene terephthalate
Full text linkThe circular economy is emerging with new sustainable solutions to the ever-growing plastic waste challenge,
garnering increasing attention. In this study, the possibility to modify expensive Hestrin–Schramm medium (HS)
for bacterial nanocellulose (BNC) production and replace significant amounts of glucose with terephthalic acid
(TPA) derived after reactive extrusion processing of mixed plastic waste yielding post consumer TPA (pcTPA),
was evaluated from laboratory scale to fermentation at pilot scale. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy
(FTIR), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) were used to assess the
structural, thermal, and morphological properties of BNC and its generated derivatives. The study’s findings
highlight the positive impact of pcTPA on BNC yield, surpassing the performance of conventional TPA. The
presence of pcTPA in the medium resulted in a BNC yield of 4.01 g/L in a scale-up step of 100 mL cultivation,
while the positive control using glucose resulted in a yield of 3.57 g/L. The efficiency of glucose substitution with
pcTPA increased with each scale-up step, ultimately reaching a 320% yield increase in comparison to the positive
control. Additionaly, the procedure that enhanced the materials’ thermoplasticity in the form of derivatives has
been established resulting in the production of BNC laurate and BNC octanoate derivatives with melting temperatures
of 270 ◦C and 280 ◦C, respectively. Overall, this study investigates the potential of this approach as an
important circular economic solution, enabling an increased sustainable perspective for polyethylene terephthalate
(PET) circularity and significantly a much needed cost reduction for BNC production with enhanced
thermoplasticity.ye
Hyaluronic acid hybrid formulations optimised for 3D printing of nerve conduits and the delivery of the novel neurotrophic-like compound tyrosol to enhance peripheral nerve regeneration via Schwann cell proliferation
Full text linkPeripheral nerve injuries, predominantly affecting individuals aged 20–40, pose significant healthcare challenges, with current surgical methods often failing to achieve complete functional recovery. This study focuses on the development of 3D printed hydrogel nerve conduits using modified hyaluronic acid (HA) for potentially enhancing peripheral nerve regeneration. Hyaluronic acid was chemically altered with cysteamine HCl and methacrylic anhydride to create thiolated HA (HA-SH) and methacrylated HA (HA-MA), achieving a modification degree of approximately 20 %. This modification was crucial to maintain the receptor interaction of HA. The modified HA was rigorously tested to ensure cytocompatibility in neuronal and glial cell lines. Subsequently, various 3D printed HA formulations were evaluated, focusing on improving HA's inherent mechanical weaknesses. These formulations were assessed for cytotoxicity through direct contact and elution extract testing, confirming their safety over a 24-h period. Among the neurotrophic compounds tested, Tyrosol emerged as the most effective in promoting Schwann cell proliferation in vitro. The 3D printed HA system demonstrated proficiency in loading and releasing Tyrosol at physiological pH. The findings from this research highlight the promising role of 3D printed HA and Tyrosol in the field of nerve tissue engineering, offering a novel approach to peripheral nerve regeneration.ye