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Beyond size: exploring the origins of anti-fat attitudes and paving the way away from them
No full textThis article presents a review of the complex web of factors driving anti-fat attitudes and offers a roadmap for targeted interventions. We delve into the impact of early family influences on the formation of anti-fat biases, revealing how biases often take root in childhood. The scope of our review then broadens to examine how intersections of gender, sexuality, race, and age intensify anti-fat stigma, with added layers of socioeconomic disparities, pervasive media portrayals and culture providing further vectors of interaction. We also analyze the psychological dimensions of belief within perceivers, such as internalized ideals and broader social worldviews, that reinforce these biases. Our synthesis highlights the importance of a holistic approach in future research, urging attention to intersecting influences and the cumulative impact of these factors from an early age. By addressing these dimensions and promoting diverse intervention strategies, we aim to provide actionable insights to reduce anti-fat biases across varied populations.</p
Experimenting with a multi-user virtual environment for collaborative online international learning: A Case study from Ireland and Norway
No full textThis study applies Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) as an analytical lens to explore the extent to which a Multi-User Virtual Environment (MUVE) platform could facilitate collaboration within the context of the Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) framework. Students from University of Limerick (UL) and Oslo Metropolitan University (OsloMet), used the OpenSimulator MUVE platform for collaboration. The students were divided into four groups comprising a mix of students from both universities. Methodologically, this case study is informed by pre- and post- survey data, screen recordings from two plenary sessions, as well as a final oral presentation and discussion in Open Simulator. Findings show mixed experiences by the students and point to three pillars of project design that can facilitate CSCL: the platform, the international dimension, and opportunities for collaboration. While students reported that being represented as an avatar had some positive affordances over other video-based platforms, students also faced usability challenges with the platform. In terms of internationalisation and collaboration, students valued working with peers from another country, with their interactions mediated by a platform they otherwise would not have used. Overall, findings show that factors such as time, the usability of the MUVE platform, the assigned task, and the international dimension, are all essential considerations when using a MUVE to facilitate COIL projects.</p
Navigating the right to a fair trial for vulnerable suspects pretrial: a legal and psychological critique of the Strasbourg jurisprudence
No full textPretrial criminal processes can prove challenging for suspects with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities. In recognition of this, the European Court of Human Rights has emphasized the importance of individualized assessments of vulnerability under Article 6. Yet, recent Strasbourg jurisprudence reveals a juridical willingness to define vulnerability narrowly with significant implications. This article analyses this jurisprudence to excavate the framing of vulnerability vis-à-vis fair trial rights during pretrial processes. Drawing upon a corpus of psychology and law literature, as well as the dissenting judgment in Hasáliková, it critiques the narrow formulation of vulnerability that has taken hold in Strasbourg and interrogates the Court’s ostensible faith in the safeguarding capacity of lawyers. By using Ireland’s weak pretrial procedural framework as a heuristic lens through which the shortcomings of this approach can be understood, it calls for a more generous conceptualization of vulnerability that is sensitive to the ontological and structural dimensions at play.</p
Empowering tomorrow’s nurses and midwives: transforming undergraduate programmes in responding to evolving healthcare environments
No full textno abstract</p
Critically reflecting on the human and environmental costs of digital technology use in education: considering the role of leadership and school culture
No full textWhile there has been an ever-increasing drive to digitally transform educational institutions over the past decade, concerns related to the environmental and human impact of digital technology consumption appear absent from policy in this area. Such concerns about resource depletion, environmental degradation, and human exploitation are likely to be downplayed and met with resistance from advocates of the digital transformation agenda. For schools to seriously consider the damaging effects of the ever increasing digital technology consumption, effective leadership is needed. Traditionally the idea of digital leadership in schools was seen as a specified role often undertaken and attributed to singular change agents or individuals. This paper argues that more democratic and inclusive leadership is needed to enable teachers to take ownership of this change agenda, thereby enabling schools to proactively respond to this sustainability crisis in an ethical and empathetic manner. This alone is not sufficient, however, as a shift from the dominant techno-positive mindset is also needed to allow teachers to critically reflect on this digital transformation agenda. The paper argues that if such conditions are established, more ethically driven responses to digital technology practices are likely to emerge.</p
Analysis of a mathematical model for multi-phase motion and local non-equilibrium heat transfer in a blast furnace
No full textIn this paper, we extend a recent asymptotic axisymmetric model for isothermal gas–solid flow in a countercurrent moving-bed reactor to a non-isothermal model for the heat transfer in an ironmaking blast furnace. The appended heat transfer model accounts for conduction, convection, thermal non-equilibrium between the gas and solid phases and the dominant endothermic chemical reaction in the bulk of the furnace, the Boudouard reaction. Asymptotic analysis is used to determine the leading-order heat balances and to interpret numerically obtained solutions for the phase tempera?tures. Although the model is considerably simpler than the many numerical models that already exist for blast-furnace operation, its future extension would form the basis of a computationally efficient approach for modelling the transient state of a blast furnace.</p
Anthropomorphising the algorithm: A ‘Theory of Mind’ perspective on psychological contract creation in gig work arrangements
No full textThe ‘agency’ question is long‐standing in psychological contract (PC) research: Who is the target party when a PC is created? Rousseau (1995), reflecting on the various organisational agents involved in working relationships, suggested that ‘most contract makers are individuals acting as the organisation's agents, who communicate demands and expectations upon which employment, advancement, remuneration, and retention are predicated’ (p. 60). Although administrative contract makers such as policies and HR practices are also historically recognised (Rousseau and Greller 1994; Suazo et al. 2009), the primacy of the ‘human’ contract maker in PC research has been central (Guest and Conway 2002).Yet, the rapid emergence of algorithmic‐enabled forms of employment in the gig economy disrupts the idea that the PC target party is always a human agent (Duggan et al. 2020). Digital labour platforms (DLPs) act as technological intermediaries to connect customers with service‐providing, independent freelancers in an on‐demand manner to carry out-short‐term tasks. It is in this context that we raise the fundamental question of whether a worker can create a PC with a non‐human agent in the form of an algorithm that mediates their relationship with an organisation. The implications of this question compel a fresh look at the features of PC Theory and its assumption</p
Adverse childhood experiences and loneliness: A systematic review and meta-analysis
No full textAdverse childhood experiences are considered a powerful determinant of emotional health. One indicator of emotional health is loneliness, which refers to a distressing experience that one’s social relationships are less in quality and quantity than those desired. This preregistered review aimed to examine the association between adverse childhood experiences (e.g., physical abuse/neglect, emotional abuse/neglect, sexual abuse, parental separation/divorce, family conflict, domestic violence) and loneliness in adulthood. A database search (Embase, Ovid, Cochrane Library, APA PsychINFO, Medline, Pubmed, Scopus) was conducted. After removal of duplicates, 3689 papers were reviewed and 20 met inclusion criteria. When feasible, results were pooled using a random-effects meta-analysis and inverse variance modelling and reported narratively. Meta-analyses revealed a statis-tically significant association between cumulative adverse childhood experiences and loneliness (r = 0.30, 95% CI [0.22–0.37]; prediction interval = 0.04–0.52) and between specific adversity types and loneliness, namely sexual abuse, physical abuse, physical neglect, emotional abuse, and emotional neglect. Some heterogeneity was observed across studies. Subgroup and sensitivity analyses revealed no differences in age, gender, age group, continent, or measures of adversity/loneliness. This research indicates that adversities in childhood may have some long-term influences on loneliness, both cumulatively and within adversity subtypes.</p
“The rule of law, human rights and an ‘Emergency’: has the Irish State struck the correct balance?”
No full textHuman rights and the rule of law are political ideals which stand in a complex theoretical dynamic with one another. Can the rule of law exist when human rights are infringed? Is the rule of law a pre-requisite for the enjoyment of human rights? The situation is further complicated in the presence of an emergency, when both are threatened and may need to be temporarily suspended for the common good. In light of these normative tensions, this thesis reconceptualises the ideal of the ‘rule of law’ by illustrating the shortcomings of an inflexible rules-based approach, in light of the heightened adaptability of a human-rights based framework. It then explores the contours and parameters of what constitutes a legal state of emergency, and how such a situation can be successfully surmounted.Since the foundation of the Irish State, the rule of law has been challenged by, at least, three distinct crises. First, through the seemingly ubiquitous subversive threat posed by the Irish Republican Army (IRA), and the transient dissident threat emanating from other political or quasi-political organisations such as ‘the Blueshirts’ and the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA). Secondly, through the health emergency generated by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Thirdly, through the precarious economic situation precipitated by the financial crash of 2008. Although most states have had to contend with subversive organisations at some point within their history, the precise minutiae of the first mentioned situation have largely been unique to Ireland. The Covid-19 pandemic was a global phenomenon which impacted every state on the planet, while the financial crash of 2008-2010 was a common experience, with subtle differences, across a significant number of developed states. This thesis identifies common threads between the three legal emergencies, and measures the success of the Irish State in combating each threat, whilst simultaneously safeguarding the necessary rights-based conception of the rule of law. Through doing so, the research will enrich the theory underpinning the degree to which a state can transiently override the rule of law and human rights to address an emergency, and will inform Irish authorities as to how they can better prepare, on a legal basis, for future emergencies.</p
Exploring a new silica-supported Brønsted-Lewis ionic liquid catalyst for the cycloaddition of CO2 and propylene oxide: A combined experimental and computational study
No full textThe field of liquid phase catalysis has explored the replacement of traditional solvents with ionic liquids, as well as the use of ionic liquids as catalyst. Herein, a novel silica-supported Fe-based Brønsted-Lewis functionalized ionic liquid (BLsIL-Fe) was synthesized and used as a catalyst for the cycloaddition of CO2 to propylene oxide, yielding propylene carbonate. The catalyst was prepared by grafting a sulfonic acid-functionalized imidazole with a FeCl4 - complex anion onto a commercial silica support (silica gel 60). The effects of temperature, pressure, catalyst loading, and reaction time on the catalytic activity of BLsILs were investigated. Our findings reveal that our catalyst remained active at a low catalyst loading of 0.18 mol% (active sites per mol of propylene oxide) at 120 ◦C, achieving up to 90.5 % conversion with a propylene carbonate selectivity above 97.0 % after four hours. The catalyst demonstrated reusability through a simple filtration and washing procedure, maintaining its catalytic activity over five cycles. Plausible catalytic reaction pathways for the CO2 valorization process using BLsILs were elucidated using density functional theory, revealing that the ring-closing step is the rate determining step. Overall, the work opens new avenues for designing dual-acid functionalized ILs, enhancing performance across a wide range of catalytic reactions.</p