UCC Journals (Univ. College Cork)
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Aspects of the Life of Colmán of Lynn
Get PDFHagiography is narrative material relating to the saints. This may take various forms, including poetry and prose tales, but most often it consists of the written Life of a saint. From the outset it is to be kept in mind that a ‘Life’ of a saint does not necessarily equate to a biography, though it may contain biographical information. Rather, it is useful to view hagiography as containing as much, if not more, information about those who composed it than it does about its subject saint. Saints’ Lives provide a useful window into concerns and issues important to the communities in which, or for which, they were produced. A Life composed in the twelfth century may therefore allow us great insight into the politics, policies, religious and world-views of the twelfth-century society in which the Life was composed, but tell us relatively little about the saint and society of the ..
Early-warning system for safe drinking-water: A domain-specific modelling approach
Get PDFThe quality of drinking water in Ireland was brought forcefully to the attention of the Irish public with the outbreak of cryptosporidiosis in Galway City during 2007, which affected more than 90,000 people, causing illness in over 240 people, and led to the imposition of a boil water notice in Galway City for 5 months during the peak tourist season. In 2008, the Irish Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) identified 36% of public water supplies (339 supplies) that required detailed profiling, that is, the representation of all the physical items that may constitute the drinking water treatment plant in order to ensure their capability to provide clean and wholesome drinking water. These water supplies, which were included on a Remedial Action List, required a range of actions to their drinking water treatment plants to ensure they could achieve this. The aim is to develop a novel Early Warning System for water ..
Quantum Control: Teaching Schrödinger’s cat to compute the impossible
Get PDFQuantum mechanics has revolutionised the way we understand the world around us, and has already produced technologies that have had an enormous impact on our daily lives. From medical imaging such as MRI to the mobile device in your pocket, quantum physics has played a key role in their design and manufacture. As our understanding of quantum physics has matured, a second generation of quantum technologies are now becoming a reality. This second generation of quantum technology pushes even further the boundary of what is possible, from new sensors that measure beyond classical limits, to quantum computers that can solve problems no classical computer can. However, a major roadblock to developing these new technologies is fast and stable quantum control. Of the many quantum control techniques available, analytic techniques have several advantages. Our research has extended a class of analytic control methods called shortcuts to adiabaticty (STA) to control problems where STA could not be used before. Our new technique is called enhanced shortcuts to adiabaticity (eSTA), and offers new analytic control protocols that have applications across a wide range of practical quantum technologies, from quantum computers to quantum sensors and thermal devices
How Blood Could Age The Brain
Get PDFOur memories deteriorate across the lifespan, and this poses increasing public health challenges. A brain structure known as the “hippocampus” is essential for establishing memories and, critically, may also be the only site where new brain cells (neurons) are produced throughout adulthood (adult neurogenesis). Neurogenesis appears to be important for normal memory function, but it decays with age, while conversely, exercise increases it. Though the causes remain unknown, it has been found that proteins and metabolites in the blood could regulate adult neurogenesis, and that the levels of these molecules change as we age and with physical activity. In my research, I aim to identify proteins and metabolites that display opposing relationships with ageing and exercise, which could provide early detection for cognitive decline and new targets for intervention. I recently identified a protein (known to occur in new brain cells) in the hippocampus and three metabolites in blood that are responsive to exercise and aging, with one metabolite displaying an opposing relationship. By comparing these results with future analyses of proteins in blood and cerebrospinal fluid (which envelopes the brain), I hope to arrive at a mechanistic pathway by which exercise could ameliorate age-related cognitive decline via neurogenesis
A Reproductive Justice Approach to Abortion Access and Provision in Ireland after the Eighth Amendment
Get PDFIn this paper, I draw on ongoing ethnographic research on abortion care in Ireland. My research follows a reproductive justice framework to inquire whether pregnant people have the means and the accessibility to abortion care, and whether providers have the means to provide abortion care. I argue that my approach provides an innovative way of examining reproductive justice in Ireland through a feminist and intersectional lens. Moving away from the moral framing of abortion which has dominated the public construction of the issue in Ireland to date, the reframing of abortion as a reproductive justice opens up opportunities for a more balanced consideration of abortion provision as policy, practice and lived experience for both service users and service providers
Ionic Transistor – A New Generation Memory Device
Get PDFWe have come a long way since Alan Tuning first proposed the Artificial Intelligence (AI) in modern computers in 1950s enabling them to response like a human brain under certain conditions. But in order to perform various machine-learning operations such as image or speech recognition, huge datasets need to be processed leading to massive power consumption. Hence for the practical implementation and progress of AI with energy efficiency there is a pressing need of new class of memory devices which can mimic the performance of human brain at equivalent low energy. The focus of my PhD project is to develop such memory element by controlled incorporation of metal ions into the insulating layer in Metal Oxide Semiconductor (MOS) transistor which can be an innovative solution for muti-level (Analog; for reference, Binary system represents two levels), non-volatile (stored data retained even after power is off), Neuromorphic (mimics human brain response) memory device. Here I have reported controlled incorporation of lithium ions in an additional deposited insulating polymer layer in a metal-oxide-semiconductor capacitor and have shown that lithium ions motion in this layer can be controlled externally which enables it to modify the conductivity of the device, overall making it a promising candidate for the new generation memory element. Successfully integrating this with present silicon-based integrated circuits can lead to a breakthrough in AI in the future
Who Gets Child Protection and Welfare Services and Why?
Get PDFWhen children are reported to Tusla Child and Family Agency, social workers may conduct Initial Assessments to determine their safety and welfare to decide if they need ongoing services. We know little about these impactful decisions. Equally, little is known about the nature of concerns investigated or about the children and families themselves. To fill this gap, two empirical studies were conducted in Tusla between 2015 and 2016. The first explored social worker’s rationales for their judgments and decisions. The second, cross-sectional study profiled the population undergoing assessments and identified through multivariable analysis, factors associated with the decision to provide ongoing service. The study developed new insights into the characteristics of children and families undergoing initial assessment and into decision making processes. Social workers’ judgments about service needs are informed by case factors, policies, resource constraints and their perception of their expertise and role. Almost 40% of children assessed received ongoing service. Multivariable analysis indicated decisions to provide ongoing services are multifactorial, influenced by a handful of current and historic case and organisation factors. This is the largest study of initial assessments conducted in Ireland to date. Implications of the findings for interventions, policy and further research are discussed
Writing Ireland: An Anthropological Literature Review
Get PDFThis literature review situates key works in the anthropology of Ireland within broader directions in Europeanist anthropology by examining various theoretical approaches used in the decades between 1930-2020. Many early publications on the Republic of Ireland fit neatly into wider anthropological trends. Functionalism was an important theoretical paradigm in both the anthropology of Ireland and Europe during the 1930s and 1940s. Throughout the 1950-1970 period, much of the ethnographic writing about Ireland emphasized the idea that rural communities were dysfunctional and dying, a process called “anomie.” This approach was strongly critiqued later, when ethnographers began to focus on processes of social continuity and change. In contrast, the anthropology of Northern Ireland has generally been centred on “The Troubles” or sectarian conflict between Catholics and Protestants. Two of the earliest monographs analysed how practices of both conflict and conflict-avoidance shaped the lives of rural villagers in Northern Ireland. Later works specifically examined the experiences of paramilitary members and their support communities. By the 2000s-2020s, there was a focus on how Irish Catholic and British Protestant ethnoreligious identities are created, maintained or contested in a post-conflict society
Book Review Selfishness and Selflessness: New Approaches to Understand Morality, by Linda. L. Layne (Ed)
No full textPre-Eclampsia and the Developing Brain
Get PDFPre-eclampsia is a very common and potentially fatal pregnancy complication faced by millions of pregnant mothers worldwide every year. As well as affecting the mother, though, the disorder has been shown to have a harmful effect on the infant, including a negative influece on foetal brain development. Children born to a pregnancy affected by pre-eclampsia have a higher risk of neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder, but, truthfully, we don\u27t know why. This article describes the link between pre-eclampsia and foetal neurodevelopment - what we know and what we don\u27t, and how our research is trying to uncover the mechanisms of the relationship between the two. Essentially, we are taking three approaches to this research question: growing neuron-like cells in the lab and modelling pre-eclampsia\u27s effects on them; growing placental cells and stressing them in a way that mimics the placental pathology of pre-eclampsia; and analysing a large dataset from Finland which includes data on neurodevelopment from brain scans. Overall, these three strategies, little by little, are increasing our understanding of the elusive relationship between these two important disorders