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Larval transport dynamics in Nephrops norvegicus
No full textTransport of meroplankton larvae in the ocean is a crucial process as it enables connectivity between populations and determines larval supply for species with narrow habitat requirements and sedentary adult stages. The Norway lobster (Nephrops norvegicus), Europe’s most important commercial crustacean, has a patchy distribution across the Northeast Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Adults inhabit areas of muddy substrate where they excavate and spend most of their time within burrows. The pelagic larval phase enables connectivity between populations separated by uninhabitable substrate. Larvae rely on settlement on suitable mud habitat for survival. Therefore, larval settlement, driven by local hydrography, may act as a constraint on recruitment. Biophysical models offer a method of simulating larval transport, which is extremely difficult to observe in-situ due to the inherent difficulties in tracking miniscule larvae in vast areas of the ocean. In the current study, a biophysical larval transport model was used to estimate larval retention, dispersal distance and connectivity for N. norvegicus grounds around Ireland. Models parameters were supported by empirical data in order to accurately represent the biological and behavioural processes of larvae.
In Chapter 2, the vertical distribution and occurrence of a Diel Vertical Migration (DVM) in N. norvegicus larvae was examined. Larval vertical distribution was influenced by the vertical temperature differential in the water column, zooplankton biomass and the potential energy anomaly. A twilight DVM was identified and involved two ascents and two descents per day. In Chapter 3, historical zooplankton datasets were used to identify an earlier larval phenology shift in N. norvegicus by 19.1 days from 1982 - 1995 to 2000 - 2010. Ocean warming was identified as the most likely cause as increasing temperatures led to a contraction of the embryo incubation period and earlier hatching of larvae. The phenology shift appeared to have a limited effect on larval duration and transport. Only large variations in modelled larval retention and dispersal distance were observed between larvae released very early and very late in the season. In Chapter 4, a 20-year time series of modelled larval retention, dispersal distance and connectivity estimates for 6 N. norvegicus Functional Units (FUs) demonstrated their capacity to retain, import and export larvae. Smaller FUs had a decreasing trend in retention over the time series which appeared to be as a result of strengthening currents. On the Aran grounds, a link between modelled larval retention and dispersal distance and empirically observed burrow densities from underwater television with a 3-year lag was observed.
The findings indicate that larval transport may act as a constraint on recruitment for N. norvegicus populations like the Aran grounds with low and variable larval retention and limited larval imports due to spatial isolation from other grounds. It demonstrates the potential of using larval transport estimates to identify instances of poor recruitment, due to low larval settlement, early in the life cycle before its effects manifest in the adult population. It can also be applied to similar species with defined habitat and planktonic life stages and may assist in limiting overexploitation for commercial species, particularly in the face of climate change and the likely impacts on oceanography.2022-02-0
A statistically based fault detection and diagnosis approach for non-residential building water distribution systems
No full textLarge non-residential buildings can contain complex and often inefficient water distribution systems. As requirements for water increase due to water scarcity and industrialization, it has become increasingly important to effectively detect and diagnose faults in water distribution systems in large buildings. In many cases, if water supply is not impacted, faults in water distribution systems can go unnoticed. This can lead to unnecessary increases in water usage and associated energy due to pumping, treating, and heating water. The majority of fault detection and diagnosis studies in the water sector are limited to municipal water supply and leakage detection. The application of detection and diagnosis for faults in building water networks remains largely unexplored and the ability to identify and distinguish between routine and non-routine water usage at this scale remains a challenge. This study using case-study data, presents the application of principal component analysis and a multi-class support vector machine to detect and classify faults for non-residential building water networks. In the absence of a process model (which is typical for such water distribution systems), principal component analysis is proposed as a data-driven fault detection technique for building water distribution systems for the first time herein. Hotelling T2-statistics and Q-statistics were employed to detect abnormality within incoming data, and a multi-class support vector machine was trained for fault classification. Despite the relatively limited training data available from the case-study (which would reflect the situation in many buildings), meaningful faults were detected, and the technique proved successful in discriminating between various types of faults in the water distribution system. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is compared to a univariate threshold technique by comparison of their respective performance in the detection of faults that occurred in the case-study site. The results demonstrate the promising capabilities of the proposed fault detection and diagnosis approach. Such a strategy could provide a robust methodology that can be applied to buildings to reduce inefficient water use, reducing their life-cycle carbon footprint.This paper has emanated from research conducted as a part of Energy Systems Integration Partnership Programme (ESIPP) project with the financial support of Science Foundation Ireland under the SFI Strategic Partnership Programme Grant Number SFI/15/SPP/E3125
Life cycle assessment of fish and seafood processed products – A review of methodologies and new challenges
No full textLife cycle assessment (LCA) has been widely applied in many different sectors, but the marine products and seafood segment have received relatively little attention in the past. In recent decades, global fish production experienced sustained growth and peaked at about 179 million tonnes in 2018. Consequently, increased interest in the environmental implications of fishery products along the supply chain, namely from capture to end of life, was recently experienced by society, industry and policy-makers. This timely review aims to describe the current framework of LCA and its application to the seafood sector that mainly focused on fish extraction and processing, but it also encompassed the remaining stages. An excess of 60 studies conducted over the last decade, along with some additional publications, were comprehensively reviewed; these focused on the main LCA methodological choices, including but not limited to, functional unit, system boundaries allocation methods and environmental indicators. The review identifies key recommendations on the progression of LCA for this increasingly important sustaining seafood sector. Specifically, these recommendations include (i) the need for specific indicators for fish-related activities, (ii) the target species and their geographical origin, (iii) knowledge and technology transfer and, (iv) the application and implementation of key recommendations from LCA research that will improve the accuracy of LCA models in this sector. Furthermore, the review comprises a section addressing previous and current challenges of the seafood sector. Wastewater treatment, ghost fishing or climate change, are also the objects of discussion together with advocating support for the water-energy-food nexus as a valuable tool to minimize environmental negativities and to frame successful synergies.This work was supported by the EAPA_576/2018 NEPTUNUS project. The authors
would like to acknowledge the financial support of Interreg Atlantic Area.
Ana Cláudia Dias and Paula Quinteiro acknowledge FCT/MCTES for the financial
support to CESAM (UIDB/50017/2020+UIDP/50017/2020), through national funds, and
to the research contracts CEECIND/02174/2017 and CEECIND/00143/2017,
respectively.2022-12-1
Population‐based identity‐by‐descent mapping combined with exome sequencing to detect rare risk variants for schizophrenia
No full textGenome‐wide association studies (GWASs) are highly effective at identifying common risk variants for schizophrenia. Rare risk variants are also important contributors to schizophrenia etiology but, with the exception of large copy number variants, are difficult to detect with GWAS. Exome and genome sequencing, which have accelerated the study of rare variants, are expensive so alternative methods are needed to aid detection of rare variants. Here we re‐analyze an Irish schizophrenia GWAS dataset (n = 3,473) by performing identity‐by‐descent (IBD) mapping followed by exome sequencing of individuals identified as sharing risk haplotypes to search for rare risk variants in coding regions. We identified 45 rare haplotypes (>1 cM) that were significantly more common in cases than controls. By exome sequencing 105 haplotype carriers, we investigated these haplotypes for functional coding variants that could be tested for association in independent GWAS samples. We identified one rare missense variant in PCNT but did not find statistical support for an association with schizophrenia in a replication analysis. However, IBD mapping can prioritize both individual samples and genomic regions for follow‐up analysis but genome rather than exome sequencing may be more effective at detecting risk variants on rare haplotypes.National Institutes of Health, Grant/Award Numbers: R01‐MH041953, R01‐MH083094; Science Foundation Ireland, Grant/Award Numbers: 08/IN.1/B1916, 12/IP/1359, 12/IP/1670; Wellcome Trust, Grant/Award Number: 085475/B/08/
Behavioral consequences at 5 y of neonatal iron deficiency in a low-risk maternal-infant cohort.
No full textBackground: Iron is critical to the developing brain, but fetal iron accretion is compromised by several maternal and pregnancy-related factors. Little consideration has been given to the long-term neurologic consequences of neonatal iron deficiency, especially in generally healthy, low-risk populations. Objective: We aimed to investigate the association between neonatal iron deficiency and neurologic development at 2 and 5 y of age. Design: We measured umbilical cord serum ferritin concentrations in the prospective maternal–infant Cork BASELINE (Babies after SCOPE: Evaluating the Longitudinal Impact Using Neurological and Nutritional Endpoints) Birth Cohort. Lifestyle and clinical data were collected from 15 weeks of gestation to 5 y of age. Standardized neurologic assessments were performed at 2 y [Bayley Scales of Infant Development/Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL)] and 5 y (Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test/CBCL). Results: Among 697 maternal–infant pairs, median (IQR) cord ferritin concentrations were 200.9 (139.0, 265.8) µg/L; 8% had neonatal iron deficiency (ferritin <76 µg/L). Using fully adjusted models, there was no association between neonatal iron deficiency and cognitive or behavioral outcomes at 2 or 5 y. We conducted an a priori sensitivity analysis in 306 high-risk children, selected using known risk factors for neonatal iron deficiency (smoking/obesity/cesarean section delivery/small-for-gestational age birth). In this high-risk subgroup, children with iron deficiency at birth (12%) had similar cognitive outcomes, but the behavioral assessments showed higher internalizing [9.0 (5.3, 12.0) compared with 5.0 (3.0, 10.0), P = 0.006; adjusted estimate (95% CI): 2.8 (0.5, 5.1), P = 0.015] and total [24.5 (15.3, 40.8) compared with 16.0 (10.0, 30.0), P = 0.009; adjusted estimate (95% CI): 6.6 (0.1, 13.1), P = 0.047] problem behavior scores at 5 y compared with those born iron sufficient. Conclusions: We have demonstrated lasting behavioral consequences of neonatal iron deficiency in high-risk children from our generally healthy, low-risk maternal–infant cohort. Although larger investigations are warranted, this study provides strong association data to suggest that interventions and strategies targeting the fetal and neonatal period should be prioritized for the prevention of iron deficiency and associated neurologic consequences
A guide to writing historical research essays for second level students
No full textThis guide seeks to support student and teacher efforts toward successful completion
of the Research Study Report component of the senior cycle,
Leaving Certificate (History)
Fibre alignment and void assessment in thermoplastic carbon fibre reinforced polymers manufactured by automated tape placement
No full textAutomated Tape Placement (ATP) technology is one of the processes that is used for the
production of the thermoplastic composite materials. The ATP process is complex, requiring multiple melting/crystallization cycles. In the current paper, laser-assisted ATP was used to manufacture two thermoplastic composites (IM7/PEEK and AS4/PA12). Those specimens were compared to specimens that were made of thermoset polymeric composites (IM7/8552) manufactured while using a standard autoclave cycle. In order assess the quality, void content, fibre distribution, and fibre misalignment were measured. After manufacturing, specimens from the three materials were assessed using optical microscopy and computed tomography (CT) scans. The results showed that, as compared to the thermoset composites, thermoplastics that are manufactured by the ATP have a
higher amount of voids. On the other hand, manufacturing using the ATP showed an improvement in both the fibre distribution inside the matrix and the fibre misalignment
DESIGN-ED: a pedagogical toolkit to support K-12 teachers’ emergency transition to remote online education
No full textK-12 educators face persistent and nascent challenges as they grapple with making an emergency transition to remote online modes of engaging with their students. Crossing the digital divide that exists between multi-site educational engagement is challenging. This paper aims to address the particular challenge of maintaining or, perhaps re-conceptualising, the constructs that support social interaction in the face-to-face setting. A second pressing challenge is considering issues of equity when making the emergency transition to remote online engagement that are, in the physical classroom, somewhat mitigated by practitioners and the systems that support them
Spatially distributed potential evapotranspiration modeling and climate projections
No full textEvapotranspiration integrates energy and mass transfer between the Earth\u27s surface and atmosphere and is the most active mechanism linking the atmosphere, hydrosphsophere, lithosphere and biosphere. This study focuses on the fine resolution modeling and projection of spatially distributed potential evapotranspiration on the large catchment scale as response to climate change. Six potential evapotranspiration designed algorithms, systematically selected based on a structured criteria and data availability, have been applied and then validated to long-term mean monthly data for the Shannon River catchment with a 50 m2 cell size. The best validated algorithm was therefore applied to evaluate the possible effect of future climate change on potential evapotranspiration rates. Spatially distributed potential evapotranspiration projections have been modeled based on climate change projections from multi-GCM ensembles for three future time intervals (2020, 2050 and 2080) using a range of different Representative Concentration Pathways producing four scenarios for each time interval. Finally, seasonal results have been compared to baseline results to evaluate the impact of climate change on the potential evapotranspiration and therefor on the catchment dynamical water balance. The results present evidence that the modeled climate change scenarios would have a significant impact on the future potential evapotranspiration rates. All the simulated scenarios predicted an increase in potential evapotranspiration for each modeled future time interval, which would significantly affect the dynamical catchment water balance. This study addresses the gap in the literature of using GIS-based algorithms to model fine-scale spatially distributed potential evapotranspiration on the large catchment systems based on climatological observations and simulations in different climatological zones. Providing fine-scale potential evapotranspiration data is very crucial to assess the dynamical catchment water balance to setup management scenarios for the water abstractions. This study illustrates a transferable systematic method to design GIS-based algorithms to simulate spatially distributed potential evapotranspiration on the large catchment systems.European Commission Horizon 2020Trinity College Dubli
Effect of seasons on the proximate composition of Laminaria hyperborea from Irish Atlantic coast
No full textThe 19th IUFoST World Food Science and Technology Congress, Mumbai, India, 23-27 October 2017This study aimed to analyze the seasonal variation in the proximate composition of Laminaria hyperborea collected in 2016 and 2017, off the west coast of Ireland