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An examination of the Leaving Certificate Applied Programme: Origin, Policy and Practice - A Contextual, Relational, Discursive and Spatial Analysis Employing a Critical Theory Approach.
No full textThe purpose of this study is to examine the Leaving Certificate Applied programme (LCA) as it is lived
out and experienced today and to investigate whether or not these experiences continue to marry
with the original aims of the programme. The Leaving Certificate Applied Programme is a distinct, self-contained two-year Leaving Certificate programme. It is modular based and ‘emphasises forms of
achievement and excellence which the established Leaving Certificate has not recognised in the past.
It offers a specific opportunity to prepare for and progress to further education and training’. (PDST,
Leaving Certificate Applied, Teacher Handbook, 2019, p.7). The central research question asks how
the policy of the LCA programme is being lived out in practice today and whether this lived experience
continues to marry with the original aims and rationale upon which the programme was conceived
and developed. This study will examine the LCA programme from the perspective of those who live
the programme, namely students and teachers, as well as from the perspective of policy makers and
school leaders. The study will place these voices at the heart of the analysis
On the energy of nonlinear water waves
No full textThis article presents results concerning the excess kinetic and potential energies for exact nonlinear water waves. In particular, it is proven, for periodic travelling irrotational water waves, that the excess kinetic energy density is always negative, whereas the excess potential energy density is always positive, in the steady reference frame. A characterization of the total excess energy density as a weighted mean of the kinetic energy along the wave surface profile is also presented
Drug Repurposing as a Strategy to Uncover Effective Antibacterial Compounds using Salmonella as a model
No full textWithout doubt, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the most serious global challenge for public, animals and environmental health. Tackling this huge issue that is threatening modern medicine, is an urgent priority to regulatory agencies such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The gap in the discovery and development of new antibiotics has turned the attention to alternative approaches, such as the repurposing of already existing drugs.
In this Thesis, two different families of compounds were assessed for their potential antimicrobial activity. In the first section of this thesis, the antibacterial potential of two zinc- and one cobalt- metallic compounds (TS262, TS265 and TS267), previously reported as having antitumor properties, was investigated against Gram -positive and negative bacteria. The three antitumor compounds had antimicrobial activity against the bacteria tested however, when tested against human cells had an impact on viability.
The second section of this work focused on the mechanism(s) of action of the antipsychotic from the family of phenothiazines, Thioridazine (TZ), using Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium ATCC14028S as a bacterium model. TZ has been widely studied worldwide due to its attractive antimicrobial activity however, the full mechanism of action of this drug in bacteria hasn t been fully understood. The results initially obtained in this Chapter, revealed that TZ does not seem to have a specific bacterial target. However, when tested in vitro against Salmonella, the studies conducted provide new insight(s) into the mechanism of action highlighting its effect(s) on the bacterial membrane and consequently in the generation of energy.
Expanding on the potential of TZ to treat Salmonella-infected macrophages, the last chapter of this Thesis focused on the effect that TZ has on these cells. It was observed that the drug was able to impact intracellular survival of Salmonella, reducing the numbers of internalised bacteria and enhancing the killing activity of the infected macrophage. Similar effect had been previously reported in studies conducted on M. tuberculosis and S. aureus infected macrophages. These pathogens adapt and live in an intracellular niche. Consequently, compounds capable of reaching the site of infection are of a huge importance to tackle AMR.
Taken together, the results obtained are promising and open an avenue for further studies using these compounds that can lead to the development of effective antimicrobials. Therefore, drug repurposing shows promise as an alternative strategy to fight infections caused by multidrug-resistant bacteria
The interoperability challenge: building a model-driven digital thread platform for CPS
No full textWith the heterogeneity of the industry 4.0 world, and more
generally of the Cyberphysical Systems realm, the quest towards a plat form approach to solve the interoperability problem is front and centre to
any system and system-of-systems project. Traditional approaches cover
individual aspects, like data exchange formats and published interfaces.
They may adhere to some standard, however they hardly cover the pro duction of the integration layer, which is implemented as bespoke glue
code that is hard to produce and even harder to maintain. Therefore,
the traditional integration approach often leads to poor code quality,
further increasing the time and cost and reducing the agility, and a high
reliance on the individual development skills. We are instead tackling
the interoperability challenge by building a model driven/low-code Dig ital Thread platform that 1) systematizes the integration methodology,
2) provides methods and techniques for the individual integrations based
on a layered Domain Specific Languages (DSL) approach, 3) through the
DSLs it covers the integration space domain by domain, technology by
technology, and is thus highly generalizable and reusable, 4) showcases
a first collection of examples from the domains of robotics, IoT, data
analytics, AI/ML and web applications, 5) brings cohesiveness to the
aforementioned heterogeneous platform, and 6) is easier to understand
and maintain, even by not specialized programmers. We showcase the
power, versatility and the potential of the Digital Thread platform on
four interoperability case studies: the generic extension to REST ser vices, to robotics through the UR family of robots, to the integration of
various external databases (for data integration) and to the provision of
data analytics capabilities in R
Explanation in constraint satisfaction: A survey
No full textMuch of the focus on explanation in the field of artificial intelligence has focused on machine learning methods and, in particular, concepts produced by advanced methods such as neural networks and deep learning. However, there has been a long history of explanation generation in the general field of constraint satisfaction, one of the AI\u27s most ubiquitous subfields. In this paper we survey the major seminal papers on the explanation and constraints, as well as some more recent works. The survey sets out to unify many disparate lines of work in areas such as model-based diagnosis, constraint programming, Boolean satisfiability, truth maintenance systems, quantified logics, and related areas
Editorial: RAMIRAN 2017: Sustainable Utilisation of Manures and Residue Resources in Agriculture
No full textThe recycling of organic residues deriving from on-farm (e.g., livestock manure) or off-farm (e.g., sewage sludge, industrial by-products) is a central part of the circular economy toward developing more sustainable food production systems (e.g., EC, 2014). However, the safe, effective, and efficient use of organic “waste” streams as resources for nutrient provision and soil improvement in agricultural systems require several challenges to be addressed, summarized by Bernal (2017) as (i) to improve nutrient availability and soil cycling; (ii) to develop technologies for nutrient re-use; (iii) to reduce contaminants and improve food safety; (iv) to mitigate environmental emissions; and (v) to enhance soil health and function. Addressing these challenges needs multidisciplinary research within a whole systems context
Development of a dehydrated fortified food base from fermented milk and parboiled wheat, and comparison of its composition and reconstitution behavior with those of commercial dried dairy‐cereal blends
No full textDehydrated blends of milk and cereal are reconstituted and consumed as a nutritious
soup or porridge in many regions; the composition and reconstitution behavior of the
blends are likely to impact on nutritional quality and consumer acceptability of the
soup/porridge. Experimental samples of dried fermented milk‐bulgur wheat blend
(FMBW) and commercial samples of dried dairy‐cereal blends, namely kishk, tarhana,
and super cereal plus corn–soy blend (SCpCSB) were compared for composition, color,
water sorption, and reconstitution characteristics. FMBW blends had higher contents
of protein, Ca, lactose and lactic acid, lower levels of salt (NaCl) and Fe, and a
lighter, more‐yellow color (higher L* and b*‐color co‐ordinates) than tarhana or kishk.
Compared with SCpCSB, FMBW had numerically higher levels of protein, lactose, and
lactic acid, lower levels of Ca, Fe, Zn, and Mg, and lower pH. Tarhana had highest mean
levels of starch, and on reconstitution (133 g/kg) had highest water holding capacity,
viscosity during pasting and cooling, yield stress (σ0), consistency coefficient (K), and
viscosity on shearing from 20 to 120 s
−1 at 60°C. Reconstituted FMBW, kishk, and
SCpCSB had similar pasting and flow behavior properties. Overall, the composition
(starch, protein, Ca, Mg), pasting and flow behavior characteristics of FMBW were
closer to those SCpCSB and kishk than to tarhana. The results suggest that the FMBW
powder, on appropriate supplementation with Ca, Fe, Zn and Mg, could be used for
the development of customized fortified blended foods for specific groups
Predisposing and triggering factors of large-scale landslides in Debre Sina area, central Ethiopian highlands
No full textA large number of landslide events have repeatedly struck the border zone of the northwestern plateaus of Ethiopia. Debre Sina area is one of the most tectonically active areas located along the western margin of the Afar depression, which is frequently affected by landslides. Despite that, urban and rural development is currently active in almost the entire area. It is crucial, therefore, to understand the main causes and failure mechanisms of landslides in the Debre Sina area and its surroundings. The present study investigated landslides using field mapping of geological and geomorphological features, remote sensing, geo-morphometric analysis, structural analysis, rainfall data, landslide inventory, and earthquake data. The results of the study indicate that large-scale and deep-seated landslide problems appear to be caused by complex geological settings and rugged topography. In particular, the location and morphology of the Yizaba Wein and Shotel Amba landslides are strongly controlled by geological structures. Their flanks are bounded by high angle faults, and their main basal failure surfaces have developed within a W–E striking eastward-dipping normal fault zone. The complex litho-structural and morphologic settings play a vital role in controlling the geometry of the slip surfaces and the stability of the landslides
The use of cardiac autonomic responses to aerobic exercise in elderly stroke patients: functional rehabilitation as a public health policy
No full textBackground and purpose: The development of public policies must be guided by full
knowledge of the health–disease process of the population. Aerobic exercises are recommended for rehabilitation in stroke patients, and have been shown to improve heart rate variability (HRV). Our aim was to compare the cardiac autonomic modulation of elderly stroke patients with that of healthy elderly people during and after an acute bout of aerobic exercise. Methods: A total of 60 elderly people participated in the study (30 in the control group, mean age of 67 ± 4 years; 30 in the stroke group, mean age of 69 ± 3 years). HRV was analyzed in rest—10 min of rest in supine position; exercise—the 30 min of peak exercise; and recovery—30 min in supine position post-exercise. Results: Taking rest and exercises together, for SDNN, RMSSD, pNN50, RRTri, and TINN, there was no difference between the stroke and control groups (p = 0.062; p = 0.601; p = 0.166; p = 0.224, and p = 0.059, respectively). The HF (ms2 ) was higher and the LF/HF ratio was lower for the stroke group than the control group (p < 0.001 and p = 0.007, respectively). The SD2 was lower for the stroke group than for the control group (p = 0.041). Conclusion: Stroke patients present reduced variability at rest, sympathetic predominance during exercise, and do not return to baseline after the 30 min of recovery, with similar responses found in the healthy elderly group. Keywords: autonomic nervous system; aging; heart rate variability
Pure curcumin spherulites from impure solutions via nonclassical crystallization
No full textCrystallization experiments performed with highly supercooled solutions produced highly pure (>99 wt %) and highly crystalline mesocrystals of curcumin from impure solutions (∼22% of two structurally similar impurities) in one step. These mesocrystals exhibited a crystallographic hierarchy and were composed of perfectly or imperfectly aligned nanometer-thick crystallites. X-ray diffraction and spectroscopic analysis confirmed
that the spherulites are a new solid form of curcumin. A theoretical hypothesis based on particle aggregation, double nucleation, and repeated secondary nucleation is proposed to explain the spherulite formation mechanism. The experimental results provide, for the first
time, evidence for an organic molecule to naturally form spherulites without the presence of any stabilizing agents. Control experiments performed with highly supercooled pure solutions produced spherulites, confirming that the formation of spherulites is attributed to the high degree of supercooling and not due to the presence of impurities. Likewise, control experiments performed with a lower degree of supercooling produced impure crystals of curcumin via classical molecular addition mechanisms. Collectively, these experimental observations provide, for the first time, evidence for particle-mediated crystallization as an alternate and efficient method to purify organic compound