Irish Universities
Not a member yet
78452 research outputs found
Sort by
An investigation of anticoccidial veterinary drugs as emerging organic contaminants in groundwater
No full textIntensification of the food production system to meet increased global demand for food has led to veterinary pharmaceuticals becoming a critical component in animal husbandry. Anticoccidials are a group of veterinary products used to control coccidiosis in food-producing animals, with primary prophylactic use in poultry production. Excretion in manure and subsequent land-spreading provides a potential pathway to groundwater. Information on the fate and occurrence of these compounds in groundwater is scant, therefore these substances are potential emerging organic contaminants of concern. A study was carried out to investigate the occurrence of anticoccidial compounds in groundwater throughout the Republic of Ireland. Twenty-six anticoccidials (6 ionophores and 20 synthetic anticoccidials) were analysed at 109 sites (63 boreholes and 46 springs) during November and December 2018. Sites were categorised and selected based on the following source and pathway factors: (a) the presence/absence of poultry activity (b) predominant aquifer category and (c) predominant groundwater vulnerability, within the zone of contribution (ZOC) for each site. Seven anticoccidials, including four ionophores (lasalocid, monensin, narasin and salinomycin) and three synthetic anticoccidials (amprolium, diclazuril and nicarbazin), were detected at 24% of sites at concentrations ranging from 1 to 386 ng L−1. Monensin and amprolium were the two most frequently detected compounds, detected at 15% and 7% of sites, respectively. Multivariate statistical analysis has shown that source factors are the most significant drivers of the occurrence of anticoccidials, with no definitive relationships between occurrence and pathway factors. The study found that the detection of anticoccidial compounds is 6.5 times more likely when poultry activity is present within the ZOC of a sampling point, compared to the absence of poultry activity. This work presents the first detections of these contaminants in Irish groundwater and it contributes to broadening our understanding of the environmental occurrence and fate of anticoccidial veterinary products.Science Foundation Irelan
Migrants’ involvement in health policy, service development and research in the WHO european region: A narrative review of policy and practice
No full textObjectives: The involvement of individuals and communities in health decision-making
is enshrined in WHO policies. However, migrant groups are under-represented in health decision-making processes. Our aim was to explore migrants’ involvement in health policy, service development and research in the WHO European Region to identify levers for inclusive and meaningful practice
The dark side of school culture
No full textThe extant literature evidences the link between incivility and workplace culture. Both
have a symbiotic relationship whereby a change in one influences the other. When workplace cultures
develop dysfunctional values and beliefs, negative traditions, and caustic ways of interacting, they
have become “toxic cultures.” This study examined Irish post-primary school teachers’ experiences of
incivility and toxic culture in the workplace through in-depth interviews with forty-two participants.
Results show that toxic work culture had a negative impact on both the personal and professional lives
of the participants. We conclude that antecedents in toxic school culture are linked to epistemological
assumptions, group dynamics, and deficiencies in leadership, and we suggest that they act as causes
and/or facilitators of workplace bullying
Women in the International Film Industry: Policy, Practice and Power, edited by Susan Liddy
No full textNegotiating Dissidence: The Pioneering Women of Arab Documentary, by Stefanie Van De Peer
No full text
Case studies in professional-oriented education: engaging with sustainability and complexity
No full textCase studies have been used in management teaching for nearly a century, and have deeper roots in the teaching of other professions, including law and medicine. Cases have considerable value as a teaching method but there has been increasing criticism of the limitations of many of the case studies currently available. There are challenges that are particularly relevant to today’s professional students who are often working at the complex interface between technical and social issues. First, many cases have a clear disciplinary label and do not embrace multi-disciplinarity. Second, most cases are focused on organising and analysing issues and arrive at a decision, usually placing primacy on the outcomes for a single company, and do not capture the complexity created by social and environmental considerations. This is problematic when it comes to considering how to address issues associated with sustainability and resilience in the built environment. This paper reports on a revised, piloted case study model that addresses the shortcomings of existing typical cases, focusing on exploring problems rather than making specific decisions. The pilot case, on engineering decisions in disaster recovery, was based on insights developed through a research project. Similar to other case teaching, the lecturer becomes a facilitator to help participants through the case, rather than specifically teach material. This proved to be a successful way of exploring a complex problem space where there is no right answer, only lessons that can be drawn from the tensions presented. Drawing on this experience, this paper outlines what this means for the roles of teachers and post-graduate training in advancing professional-oriented education in engineering and the built environment
Transdisciplinarity in a bio-engineering course
No full textIn order to face environmental issues related to resource management and the protection of our ecosystems, future engineers must be aware of the need to develop new sustainable technologies. Our multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary course aims at sensitizing students to the major challenges related to the environment and resources. In particular, bio-engineering for the production of biosourced and biodegradable polymer materials, waste treatment and recovery, as well as ecosystems remediation are addressed. The aim of the lectures, in the first part of the course, is to introduce notions of ecology, biotechnology, polymer materials and process engineering, in order to prepare the project part which allows students to develop achievements on bio-based materials. The students choose from four project areas: the design and construction of a biodegradation reactor, the production of enzymes by genetic modification of bacterial strains, the implementation and optimization of biodegradation processes, the development and transformation of polymer materials, in particular bio-based and biodegradable materials. Finally, students are invited to consider the importance of interactions between complementary disciplines for the success of sustainable and responsible complex projects such as those in the field of bio-engineering
Women’s experience of obstetric anal sphincter injury following childbirth: an integrated review
No full textackground: Perineal injury during childbirth is a very common event which affect women during child birth. Significant morbidities are associated with third-and-fourth degree perineal tears in particular, also
referred to as obstetric anal sphincter injuries (OASIS). With an increasing global birth rate and rising
interventions in birth, the incidence of perineal trauma following vaginal birth is increasing on an in ternational scale, impacted also by more accurate classification and definitions of OASIS and increased
pre-existing co morbidities amongst affected women. The consequences of OASIS can be physically and
psychologically distressing for affected women and have significant impact on quality of life.
Methodology: The aim of this integrative review was to examine women’s experience of OASIS following
childbirth using a systematic approach. This is presented in a five-stage process that includes problem
identification, literature search, data extraction and evaluation, data analysis and presentation of results.
A number of academic electronic databases were systematically searched and results are presented and
analysed. Results of the complete search are presented in PRISMA format. Eight papers, which were as sessed for quality using an appropriate appraisal tool, are included in the review and thematic analysis
used to identify themes.
Findings: The themes identified were; psychological consequences, the role of the health care profes sionals and implications for future pregnancies. Psychological consequences included anxiety, loneliness,
isolation, shame, fear, many of which were associated with physical ramifications of OASIS and how these
feelings affect activities of daily living. The importance of access to and support from health care profes sionals was highlighted. The impact the experience of OASIS had on women’s decisions about future
pregnancies was also evident.
Conclusion: The association between OASIS and maternal quality of life following childbirth can be sub stantial as evidenced by this literature review. The review identifies the need for improvement in the
care and management of these women to alleviate the physical and psychological consequences of OA SIS, including decisions in relation to future pregnancies and childbirth. Health care professionals caring
for women in pregnancy and childbirth need to be educated and informed on the sequelae of OASIS, to
ensure appropriate information and support is provided to these women and their families. Such knowl edge may enable health care professionals to alleviate symptoms associated with OASIS and help women
make sense and cope with their experiences
Grid-Enabled Hydropad: a Scientific Application for Benchmarking GridRPC-Based Programming Systems
No full textGridRPC is a standard API that allows an application to easily interface with a Grid environment. It implements a remote procedure call with a single task map and client-server communication model. In addition to non-performance-related benefits, scientific applications having large computation and small communication tasks can also obtain important performance gains by being implemented in GridPRC. However, such convenient applications are not representative of the majority of scientific applications and therefore cannot serve as fair benchmarks for comparison of the performance of different GridRPC-based systems. In this paper, we present Hydropad, a real life astrophysical simulation, which is composed of tasks that have a balanced ratio between computation and communication. While Hydropad is not the ideal application for performance benefits from its implementation with GridRPC middleware, we show how even its performance can be improved by using GridSolve and SmartGridSolve. We believe that the Grid-enabled Hydropad is a good candidate application to benchmark GridRPC-based programming systems in order to justify their use for high performance scientific computing.Science Foundation Irelan