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Accounting for acres: land, data, and accountability in Ireland
No full textThe concept of establishing a land observatory in Ireland has recently gained significant momentum. Envisioned as a data-driven platform to monitor and inform land-related policy, the initiative is being actively advanced by the Irish land observatory stakeholders group. The group are currently working to secure a pilot land observatory in Ireland, in collaboration with Access to Land Europe—a network dedicated to safeguarding land for small-scale farming.</p
‘It can be very complicated’: A qualitative analysis of clinicians’ practices and perspectives on treating adolescents with nonspecific persistent back pain
No full textObjective: To explore the practices, perspectives and beliefs of clinicians treating adolescents with non-specific persistent back pain. Design: A qualitative descriptive study using individual, semi-structured interviews. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to code interview transcripts and generate relevant themes. Setting: Clinicians in any clinical setting where adolescents with nonspecific persistent back pain are treated. Participants: Ten clinicians (eight chartered physiotherapists, one nurse and one psychologist) who currently treat or have treated adolescents with nonspecific persistent back pain. Results: Five themes were identified which captured the practices, perspectives and beliefs of clinicians treating adolescents with nonspecific persistent back pain: (1) Multiple relationships, one priority, (2) Without buy-in, it won’t work, (3) Managing pain, living life, (4) No one-size-fits-all treatment, and (5) Who you see is what you get. Conclusions: Treating an adolescent with nonspecific persistent back pain is not the same as treating an adult with the same condition. Specifically, clinicians must attend to the needs, concerns and beliefs of both adolescents and their parents, reflecting the diminished autonomy of adolescent patients. Clinicians tend to offer person-centred care to adolescents with nonspecific persistent back pain. However, they currently lack guidance on how to foster effective treatment relationships with parents and how to achieve buy-in to a modern conceptualisation of persistent back pain as a biopsychosocial phenomenon.</p
Preservice teachers’ perceived and assessed levels of examinable physical education content knowledge
No full textPhysical education is now examined as part of the Leaving Certificate in Ireland. The primary aim of this study was to analyse the relationship between preservice physical education teachers’ perceived and assessed Leaving Certificate Physical Education (LCPE) subject-specific knowledge, referred to as common content knowledge (CCK). In total, 30 participants (73% female; undergraduate, n=15; postgraduate, n=15) were recruited from one teacher education institute in Ireland. Participants completed a perceived CCK survey followed by an assessment of CCK for all 10 topics on the LCPE specification. Mean perceived CCK was 60.1% (SD =11.2); however, mean assessed CCK was 24.1% (SD =7.7). The highest individual assessed CCK score was 51.3%. Over half (53.3%) of participants did not achieve a pass grade. Male teachers’ perceived CCK rating (63.3%, SD =6.9) was significantly higher than females’ (52.8%, SD =11.2, p=0.03). However, female teachers’ assessed CCK (31.0%, SD ±8.8) was marginally higher than males’ (27.7%, SD ±11.3; p=0.41). Postgraduate students’ perceived (58.5%, SD ±10.27) and assessed CCK (33.1%, SD ±9.24) did not differ significantly from undergraduates’ perceived (52.7%, SD ±11.41) and assessed CCK (27.08%, SD ±9.12) (p=0.37). Findings demonstrated deficiencies in preservice physical education teachers’ CCK, despite higher levels of perceived CCK. The introduction of a terminal physical education examination in secondary schools in Ireland may require more emphasis to be placed on CCK in physical education teacher education programmes.</p
Ratcheting performance of maraging steel fabricated via laser powder bed fusion: experimental evaluation and numerical prediction
No full textPurpose – This work intends to evaluate experimentally the ratcheting behaviour of AM MS300. Furthermore, cyclic plasticity modelling (modified Abdel-Karimand Ohnomodel)is examined as a means of predicting ratcheting. Design/methodology/approach – Uniaxial stress-controlled cyclic loading histories were utilised to evaluate ratcheting for Maraging Steel 300 (MS300) fabricated via laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) additive manufacturing (AM). Heat-treated and as-built AM and conventionally manufactured (CM) MS300 coupons were tested at room temperature, under constant and incrementally variable stress amplitude and mean stress. Two sets of AM test coupons were used, printed at horizontal and vertical built orientation. The AM material ratcheting was predicted via constitutive modelling and numerical simulation. The Abdel-Karim and Ohno cyclic plasticity model was modified by introducing a memory surface, to improve ratcheting prediction. Findings – The hysteresis stress–strain response and low cycle fatigue (LCF) life were obtained from the different loading histories. Both the AM and CM MS300 exhibited an accumulation of axial strain (ratcheting) for all tests, attributed to the application of non-zero mean stress. The AM MS300 has demonstrated a higher ratcheting accumulation rate than the CM material. The achieved agreement between the numerical results of the new model and the experimental data offers an indication on the suitability and the robustness of this model. Originality/value – The ratcheting behaviour of the AM MS300 material has been characterised for the first time in the published literature, for a variety of loading histories selected. A modified Abdel-Karim and Ohno plasticity model has been developed to account for the ratcheting performance of this material.</p
Breakthrough in porous liquids for carbon capture and catalysis
No full textCarbon dioxide (CO2) emissions remain a pressing environmental challenge, underscoring the urgent need for innovative, energy-efficient solutions. In line with national and global commitments to climate action, advancing carbon capture and conversion technologies is mission-critical to sustainably reducing emissions and achieving a net-zero future. In this context, a recent study by Yuan-Biao Huang and co-workers has introduced a disruptive material—a prototypical covalent organic framework (COF)-based smart porous liquid (PL), COF-301-PL, that merges the benefits of solid COFs and liquid materials, enabling efficient CO2 capture and heterogeneous catalysis [1].</p
Comparing logistic regression and machine learning for obesity risk prediction: A systematic review and meta-analysis
No full textBackground: Logistic regression (LR) has traditionally been the standard method used for predicting binary health outcomes; however, machine learning (ML) methods are increasingly popular. Objective: This study aimed to compare the performance of ML and LR for obesity risk prediction, identify how LR and ML were being compared, and identify the commonly used ML methods. Methods: We conducted comprehensive searches in PubMed, Scopus, Embase, IEEE Xplore, and Web of Science databases on 24th November 2023, with no restrictions on publication dates. Meta-analyses were performed to quantify the overall predictive performance of the methods using the area under the curve (AUC) for LR, AUC for the best performing ML, as well as the difference in the AUC between the two approaches as the effect measures. Results: We included 28 studies out of 913 abstracts screened. Accuracy and sensitivity were the most commonly used performance measures. More than half of the studies used AUC, with no calibration assessment conducted in any of the studies. Decision trees followed by boosting algorithms were the most commonly used ML methods. Seventy five percent of the studies were at high risk of bias. There were 14 included studies in the meta-analysis. The pooled AUC for LR was 0.75 (95% CI 0.70 to 0.80) and the pooled AUC for ML was 0.76 (95% CI 0.70 to 0.82). The pooled difference in logit(AUC) between ML and LR was 0.13 (95% CI -0.11 to 0.37). Conclusion: We conclude that there is no significant difference in the performance of ML and LR for obesity risk prediction. However, there is a need for improved quality of reporting of studies, the use of more performance measures particularly calibration, and to validate models in different populations.</p
The Gothic Bildungsroman
No full textIn one of several inset tales in the anonymously-published Amasina, or the American Foundling (1804), Theophilus Mountfort, the eldest son of a landed family with an estate outside Tuam, Co. Galway, is urged by his cousin and fiancée, Adelaide Ashenhurst, to study “the laws and constitution of your country, that, when elected one of the representatives, you may act according to the real interest of the sacred trust devolved to you.” 1 The fruits of his efforts are never described, as his story – recounted in an old manuscript given to the heroine of the narrative proper and dated 21 July 1767 – becomes dominated by the machinations of his avaricious father. Disapproving of his son’s proposed marriage to Adelaide, Henry Mountfort convinces the latter that Theophilus has been unfaithful, reducing the girl to “lunatic wanderings” (Amasina, 2: 160).</p
Dynamic analysis of variable stiffness curved composite beams based on the inverse differential quadrature method☆
No full textRecent advances in composite manufacturing have catalysed the adoption of curved variable stiffness beams, promising enhanced dynamic performance for advanced applications in engineering. Curved variable stiffness beams transcend the limits of conventional composites offering new anisotropic coupling possibilities to tailor beam behaviour. However, the structural complexities introduced by variable stiffness effects in curved beams require computational tools that can capture non-classical responses characterising their behaviour. To address this problem, a numerical approach, rooted in indirect approximation techniques, is used to analyse the dynamic response of curved variable stiffness composite beams. By leveraging the merits of the emerging inverse differential quadrature method (iDQM), the study derives a new structural formulation for enhanced computational dynamic analysis of curved variable stiffness composite beams. The vibrational response of curved variable stiffness beams is governed by the interplay between geometric- and material-induced couplings due to curvature and point-by-point varying material distributions. Such interplay can be employed for design customisation, allowing for strategic adjustments in both geometry and materials to optimise performance. From the computational perspective, iDQM achieves over 90% reduction in degrees of freedom compared to one-dimensional and three-dimensional finite element method. Additionally, the variability in stiffness coefficients of variable stiffness composites introduces additional internal force terms, modifying the equilibrium equations in ways not observed in constant stiffness laminates. This feature creates opportunities to optimise material distribution and geometry by varying the stiffness along the beam’s length through variable fibre angle orientation and adjusting curvature to enhance dynamic performance over traditional constant stiffness beams.</p
Music therapists’ global perspectives on telehealth music therapy: a qualitative interview inquiry
No full textTelehealth music therapy (TMT) grew exponentially during the COVID-19 pandemic and has continued to be integrated in music therapy praxis. This interview study, which is a follow-up to a large international study of 572 music therapists, reports the perceptions and experiences of 20 music therapists from 10 countries across 5 global regions. Five themes arose from the qualitative analysis, including (1) accessibility of TMT, (2) suitability of TMT, (3) safety within TMT, (4) technology within TMT, and (5) advancing the practice of TMT. Several recommendations are provided for music therapy clinicians, educators and researchers to consider for the fu?ture of TMT including the inclusion of TMT theoretical and experiential training for preprofessionals, client perceptions, experiences and desires for TMT, and the role of caregivers in TMT provision.</p
Does Practice make perfect? A Longitudinal analysis of the contractual governance of Ireland's first public-private partnership
No full textThis paper examines how contractual governance in a public–private partnership evolved over a 16-year period. It adopts a novel approach by revisiting an earlier analysis of Ireland's first PPP contract for school's infrastructure. We examine contractual governance at two distinct levels: the contract management level (between government and contractor) and the operational level (between school principals and facilities managers). We find that contractual governance between contracting parties has remained transactional but is now characterized by higher levels of trust and cooperation. However, we find that contractual governance has shifted from transactional to relational at the operational level. A number of factors have contributed to the evolution toward increased relational governance. These include the transfer of contract management to a newly established specialized PPP procurement agency, changes in personnel involved in the project, and the adoption of a more devolved approach to facilities management through the introduction of on-site facilities managers</p