Research@THEA (Technological Higher Education Association)
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Best practice identification in a relevant industry and its application to the workplace.
Get PDFThis assessment is used on a number of Postgraduate
programmes in the Department of Lifelong Learning in
TUS Midlands campus as part of the programme capstone
module. The assessment consists of two components and
involves presenting skills and peer review and work-based
learning in component two.
In component 1, learners identify a best practice or gold
standard organisational / departmental system/ S.O.P or
design / workflow in their domain. They are then asked
to justify their rationale for the method selected, giving
examples of its use, efficiencies and some of the key
industry companies who use it. This comes in the form of an
essay of 600-900 words.
In Component 2, learners are asked to map out the current
system they use in their own organisation regarding
what corresponds to the gold standard they identified in
Component
The relationship between transformational leadership and follower employee work engagement in a remote environment. Doctoral Colloquium Submission
Get PDFThe novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused many organizations to change their strategies and shift into the remote working environment due to health and safety precautions (Bartsch et al., 2020). Such a shift happened to be a great challenge for organizations, managers, and employees. For many, such a working environment is challenging. Kniffin et al. (2021) state that: "Covid-19 makes a clear vulnerability that employers and employees face". They argue that people need to learn to work differently like no previous generation ever did. For instance, leaders may run into further difficulties of not overseeing everyone’s work and avoiding employee burnout and workforce disengagement. For this reason, the study aims to investigate whether transformational leadership is effectiv
Holocaust tourism: education or exploitation?
Get PDFThe purpose of this research study is to investigate the ethics of holocaust tourism as a niche market which is becoming very commercialised due to the growing demand for such activities at certain locations and to examine the motivating factors for tourists visiting these destinations. Holocaust sites, a number of which were commissioned for memorial after the liberation during World War II to memorialise those lost and act as an educational resource. The main aim of this research is to explore whether holocaust tourism can be seen as education or exploitation. This will be investigated through a site visit to a holocaust tourism destination in Germany (Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, Berlin) and a survey to identify those who engage in holocaust tourism, their motivations for doing so, and the outcome of their visits. Finally, this research study will provide results on the ethics of holocaust tourism and its educational value through a review of the academic research as well as the opinions of those who have or will engage in holocaust tourism. One of the main conclusions is that both primary participants and secondary authors spoke of how when visiting these sites, you create a connection to the destination and the sense of what occurred at the location is undeniable.ye
Report on Aarhus Implementation - Ireland
Get PDFThis Report identifies issues with the implementation of the Aarhus Convention in Ireland. The Aarhus Convention UNECE 1998 is an international convention providing for a set of “environmental democracy” rights. These include the right of access to environmental information, the right of the public to participate in environmental decision making, and the right to access justice to protect the environment. It also includes provisions relating to environmental impact assessment and protection of environmental defenders
Assessing stone walls habitat quality – Which factors affect bryophytes and macrolichens on farmland stone walls in Ireland?
Get PDFStone walls are ubiquitous field boundaries used to restrict livestock movement or to separate property. Bryophytes and lichens are often the dominant vegetation in dry stone walls and are strongly affected by local microhabitat characteristics. Bryophytes and lichens related metrics can be used to define habitat quality of stone walls. The current study assessed how richness and cover of bryophytes and macrolichens in dry stone walls related to each other and how different environmental variables and farm management descriptors determined richness and cover of both groups in dry stone walls. Bryophytes and macrolichens were sampled in stone walls on sixteen farms across a management intensity gradient in Ireland. Bryophyte cover correlated positively and significantly with bryophyte richness and macrolichen cover and richness, and can thus be used to assess stone walls quality. Farm management intensity emerged as the variable most strongly related with species richness of bryophytes and cover of both groups. Altitude also emerged as a strong predictor of both groups’ richness and cover. This study provides a novel perspective on stone wall habitat quality and results indicate that by promoting extensive farming it is possible to increase stone walls quality.ye
ICARUS 2
No full textICARUS 2022 is the second annual International Conference on Applied Research with the Business and Society of our RUN-EU
PLUS project and is hosted by the Technological University of the Shannon: Midlands Midwest. The inaugural conference was held in December 2021 when the RUN-EU PLUS project was just over 2 months old. This year’s conference showcases researcher mobili ty and research collaborations across the RUN European Universi ty network and with our regional partners in their strategic priority research areas of sustainability, digitalization, and social innovation.
The Horizon 2020 RUN-EU PLUS project (grant agreement 101035816) supports our RUN European University in its regional
development goals by focusing on the strengthening of regional business and society partnerships in research and innovation
across our RUN network. RUN-EU PLUS is developing professional practice-based research masters and doctoral programmes
for business and society which will complement the existing RUN EU strategic vision for teaching, learning, research, and engagement activities thereby delivering institutional and societal transformation in our regions. In addition to delivering a common research and innovation agenda, RUN-EU PLUS is mainstreaming open science skills and practices among our research community and has developed a Researcher Career Development Programme and a Research Career Evaluation system to support RUN-EU researchers in identifying clear personal career paths which will encourage inter-sectoral and international mobility during their careers. Conference participants will obtain insight into the research
and innovation collaborative opportunities available through the RUN-EU PLUS project and the international mobility opportunities available to researchers. In addition, they will hear the personal experiences of researchers at all career stages including postgraduate researchers, academic research supervisors, research leaders, and business partners.
We welcome you to our ICARUS 2022 conference and look forward to collaborating with you in the future.n
Self-photopolymerizable hydrogel-ceramic composites with scavenger properties
No full textThe photocatalytic behaviours of semiconductive ceramic nanoparticles such as TiO2
, ZnO,
Fe2O3
, and Fe3O4
, have been extensively studied in photocatalysis and photopolymerization, due to
their ability to produce radical species under ultraviolet–visible light, and even in dark conditions. In
addition, in the form of microparticles, TiO2 and its Magnéli phases are capable of neutralizing radical
species, and a heterogeneous catalytic process has been suggested to explain this property, as it is well
known as scavenging activity. Thus, in this study, we demonstrate that these ceramic powders, in the
form of microparticles, could be used as photoinitiators in UV polymerization in order to synthesize
a hydrogel matrix. Them, embedded ceramic powders could be able to neutralize radical species
of physiological media once implanted. The hydrogel matrix would regulate the exchange of free
radicals in any media, while the ceramic particles would neutralize the reactive species. Therefore,
in this work, the scavenger activities of TiO2
, ZnO, Fe2O3
, and Fe3O4 microparticles, along with
their photoinitiation yield, were evaluated. After photopolymerization, the gel fraction and swelling
behaviour were evaluated for each hydrogel produced with different ceramic initiators. Gel fractions
were higher than 60%, exhibiting variation in their scavenging activity. Therefore, we demonstrate
that ceramic photoinitiators of TiO2
, ZnO, Fe2O3
, and Fe3O4 can be used to fabricate implantable
devices with scavenger properties in order to neutralize radical species involved in inflammatory
processes and degenerative diseases.ye
Achieving sustainability of the seafood sector in the European Atlantic area by addressing eco-social challenges: the NEPTUNUS Project.
Get PDF: Fisheries and aquaculture are becoming a focus of societal concern driven by globalization
and increasing environmental degradation, mainly caused by climate change and marine litter. In
response to this problem, the European Atlantic Area NEPTUNUS project aims to support and inform
about the sustainability of the seafood sector, boosting the transition towards a circular economy
through defining eco-innovation approaches and a steady methodology for eco-labelling products.
This timely trans-regional European project proposes key corrective actions for positively influencing
resource efficiency by addressing a life cycle thinking and involving all stakeholders in decisionmaking processes, harnessing the water-energy-seafood nexus. This paper presents inter-related
objectives, methodologies and cues to action that will potentially meet these challenges that are
aligned with many of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and European policy
frameworks (e.g., Farm to Fork, European Green Deal)
Use of next generation sequencing and bioinformatics for profiling freshwater eukaryotic microalgae in a novel peatland integrated multi-trophic aqualculture (IMTA) system: case study from the Republic of Ireland.
Get PDFDevelopment of integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) systems constitutes a step change in the sustainable production of freshwater fish to meet emerging needs for high-protein foods globally. Recently, there has been a paradigm shift away from harvesting peat as a fuel towards the development of wettable peatland innovation (termed ‘paludiculture’), such as aquaculture. Such eco-innovations support carbon sequestration and align with a balanced environmental approach to protecting biodiversity. This novel peatland-based IMTA process in the Irish midlands relies upon natural microalgae for waste treatment, recirculation and water quality where there is no use of pesticides or antibiotics. This novel IMTA system is powered with a wind turbine and the process has ‘organic status’; moreover, it does not discharge aquaculture effluent to receiving water. However, there is a significant lack of understanding as to diversity of microalgae in this ‘paludiculture’-based IMTA processes. This constitutes the first case study to use conventional microscopy combined with next-generation sequencing and bioinformatics to profile microalgae occurring in this novel IMTA system from pooled samples over a 12 month period in 2020. Conventional microscopy combined with classic identification revealed twenty genera of algae; with Chlorophyta and Charophyta being the most common present. However, algal DNA isolation, 16 s sequencing and bioinformatics revealed a combined total of 982 species from 341 genera across nine phyla from the same IMTA system, which emphasized a significant underestimation in the number and diversity of beneficial or potentially harmful algae in the IMTA-microbiome. These new methods also yield rich data that can be used by digital technologies to transform future monitoring and performance of the IMTA system for sustainability. The findings of this study align with many sustainability development goals of the United Nations including no poverty, zero hunger, good health and well-being, responsible consumption and production, climate change, and life below water.ye