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Outdoor learning on the edge of Europe: a systematic review of practice from Ireland
No full textOutdoor Learning (OL) programmes are a small but impactful part of the
Irish educational landscape. This paper presents an overview of the sector through a systematic review of the literature published between 2012 and 2023. The research had three aims: to 1) map the strands of practice where OL-related research is happening; 2) synthesise the reported outcomes and 3) indicate gaps in the research. Of the 157 papers screened, 13 met the criteria for inclusion. A hybrid method of review based on reflexive and meta-aggregative synthesis was utilised. Eleven lines-of-action findings were identified across four areas-of-action. These areas were: the role and function of schools and organisations; the professional educator; the flourishing of learners in the outdoors; and challenges to and development of the field. Research reported from post-primary and further education sectors presented a significant gap. Undertaking a large-scale quantitative study of the OL sector would complement existing research
1.5 Terabit/s IM/DD Transmission with Kerr Soliton Frequency Comb for DCI Application
Get PDFWe experimentally demonstrate 1.575 Terabit/s aggregated transmission rate with 75 GBd on-off keying signal employing a dissipative Kerr soliton optical frequency comb. The system is scalable to provide multi-Terabit/s optical interconnects
Physics Informed Neural Networks:Deployment and Evaluation in Sparse Data Application
Get PDFNeural networks have demonstrated remarkable success in various domains but they often struggle with generalization beyond their training data. To address these limitations and enhance the robustness of machine learning models, this thesis explores the integration of domain knowledge into neural networks through two approaches, network analysis and ordinary differential equations (ODEs). We begin by investigating neural network performance in diverse tasks, such as hyperglycemia/hypoglycemia diagnosis using exosome profiles and oxygen uptake estimation from sensor measurements. The study then progresses to more structured data with complex networks.
Subsequently, we incorporate network structure into machine learning using graph neural networks, applying this method to an air quality forecasting task where locations and their correlations form a network. An alternative approach is then investigated by integrating ODE systems describing dynamical systems into a data-driven machine learning framework. This comprises the development of advanced techniques to enable neural networks to learn underlying physics, including ODE Normalization, Gradient Balancing, Causal Training, and Domain Decomposition. These methods address challenges in training with stiff systems across large domains.
The frameworks in this research are then validated using simulated data for the Lorenz system and a system of ODEs modelling mosquito populations. This work is further developed to accommodate real-life observations, by making adjustments to model inputs, neural network architecture, and activation functions. This extended framework is then evaluated against real-world mosquito counts in an inverse problem setting, learning relationships between meteorological conditions and mosquito development. Our results demonstrate that incorporating domain knowledge into neural networks enhances model generalizability, improving both accuracy and extrapolation capabilities. Moreover, this approach maintains the explainability of the added knowledge while leveraging the flexibility of machine learning models
Click Chemistry Derived Copper Artificial Metallo-Nucleases with Discrete Nucleic Acid Targeting Properties
No full textThe design of copper compounds with artificial metallo-nuclease (AMN) activity is an important goal as these agents are mechanistically unique compared to established metallodrugs. This thesis reports the development of a new dinuclear copper AMN, called Cu2 -BPL-C6, which was prepared using click chemistry methodology. This compound demonstrates site-specific DNA recognition with low micromolar damaging activity. The complex was rationally designed to induce enhanced DNA damage by coordinating two redox-active copper centres coordinated to distal phenanthroline groups that are linked by an aliphatic spacer. DNA binding experiments—including circular dichroism spectroscopy, agarose gel electrophoresis, and fluorescence quenching experiments—revealed preferential binding for AT-rich DNA. The oxidative cleavage mechanism of Cu2 BPL-C6 was elucidated using in vitro molecular and biophysical assays with spin trapping antioxidants and free radical scavengers. Next, the quantification of genomic DNA damage, along with the types of oxidative lesions produced, were monitored using single molecule analysis of peripheral blood mononuclear cells exposed to Cu2 -BPL-C6. Broad spectrum anticancer screening in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute (NCI-60) revealed selectivity against several melanoma, breast, colon, and non-small cell lung cell lines. A small library of Cu2 BPL-C6 congeners were then synthesised to observe the effects of modifying the linker length and composition of this class of agent. To extend the application of targeted AMNs further, a library of bis-acridine ligand scaffolds were screened with Holliday Junction (HJ) DNA for their recognition properties. The lead compound in the screen, a C6-linked acridine derivative, was then covalently modified using click chemistry. Here, an azide-phenanthroline group was tethered to a mono-acridine derived scaffold and coordinated with copper(II). Efforts to generate a functionalised bis-acridine scaffold are established. Multiplex PAGE and microscale thermophoresis assays were established for high-throughput screening of HJ recognising compounds. Using these platforms, the mono-acridine hybrid was screened for its selective HJ DNA cleavage properties
An exploration of the creative approaches to stage adaptations in the field of theatre for young audiences; working from selected novels for young adults:
Get PDFThe central research of this thesis concerns the translation of literary works written specifically for young people into the language of theatre. A further layer of analysis is added by a research interest in the different ways in which the age group of the audience frames and directs creative practice. The thesis records and is the result of my work as a theatre practitioner working specifically with material designed for young audiences. In particular, the research at the centre of this PhD project related to my adaptation and subsequent production of two novels that deal with trauma for young adults. The thesis records not just the creative practice associated with these productions but also the critical analysis and research that has informed my work in the theatre. At the centre of this thesis stands my original theatrical adaptations of A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness / Siobhan Dowd and Orphalina by Zsigmond Móricz. The second half of the thesis presents the material (design work, draft scripts, and final production script) and productions (high-quality video recordings) relating to this adaptation work. The first section of the thesis provides an overview of theatre for young audiences (TYA) and its dynamically changing place among theatre genres of the recent period. The research here focuses on the importance of age classifications within the genre and the inseparable educational and teaching labels of TYA. Subsequently, the thesis examines the strong relationship between children’s literature and TYA, touching on aspects such as the role of taboo and censorship. Developing the analysis of the nature of this relation, the thesis thereafter offers an exploration of the established healing effect of literature and the arts, with particular regard to children’s literature. Finally, in this section of the thesis, there is an analysis of adaptation theories and the key proposal that transmedia adaptation should be considered at least as original as the source work due to the unavoidable and inherent change of artistic expression. Finally, the thesis weaves together my research findings with the aspects that arose during the process of adapting A Monster Calls and Orphalina, focusing on the possibilities and the challenges of creation
Breaking Language Barriers: Reimagining Machine Translation as Style Transfer
Get PDFMachine Translation (MT) has traditionally relied on parallel corpora, posing significant challenges for low-resource languages. This thesis reimagines Machine Translation as a style transfer problem, introducing a novel framework, CycleGN, to enable both translation and style transfer without requiring parallel data sets. Using monolingual corpora, the proposed method seeks to broaden equitable access to language translation systems, while advancing theoretical insights into style transfer. Another contribution of this work is the development of Tokengram_F, a novel metric that extends n-gram analysis to better capture linguistic and contextual nuances in translation evaluation and can estimate the quality of machine-generated sentences in more than 200 different languages. Furthermore, Embed_llama leverages pre-trained Large Language Model (LLM) embeddings to enhance semantic alignment and evaluation accuracy, deepening the work on transfer learning.
This thesis also explores text compression through the development of Llamazip, a lossless compression algorithm that uses the predictive capabilities of LLMs. Beyond achieving excellent compression ratios, Llamazip demonstrates innovative applications, such as identifying training set membership of given target text and benchmarking predictive performance.
The research presented in this thesis has led to the publication of four peer-reviewed publications, the submission of another one, and we are also in the process of writing a further paper. Ultimately, this work seeks to democratise access to translation technologies by broadening the scope of accessible training data. It aims to contribute to the evolution of language technologies in a multilingual world
An exploration of senior therapists’ experience of working with complex trauma in Ireland: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis
Get PDFComplex trauma can result from multiple, cumulative and prolonged experiences of psychological injury from events such as childhood abuse and/or neglect, which lead to difficulties along several developmental trajectories. The publication of the SAVI report (Sexual Abuse and Violence in Ireland) and inquiries into Ireland’s history of institutional abuses have contributed to the emergence of several specialist trauma services and private practitioners working with complex trauma presentations. Despite the growth within Ireland of this specialised therapeutic area, little is known about the experience of therapists working with this clinical population. This study explores the lived experiences of therapists, who have long term experience of working with complex trauma in Ireland, using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA).
Through interviews with nine experienced trauma therapists, three core experiential themes were identified. Firstly, the vicarious impacts: “you feel like it's in your bones” reflects the profound embodied impacts of trauma practice. The second theme, being pushed: “it's continuously challenging” illuminates the ongoing professional and personal demands of working with complex trauma. Lastly, feeling driven: “this kind of work is so addictive” explores both the light and shadowed motivations of trauma work, along with its inherent growth processes. The findings reveal the vicarious costs of trauma work manifest at a primarily embodied level, particularly for women, while emotional resilience appears to increase with experience. The study also elucidates the process of adapting to the specialized aspects of trauma work, the challenges related to professional boundaries, the issue of professional isolation (particularly in private practice), and the difficulty in obtaining trauma-informed supervision within Ireland. The findings are discussed in light of the relevant previous research on trauma work. Recommendations and implications for clinical practice, supervision and training are detailed
Performing the Archive: Dorothy Macardle’s Prison Notebooks
No full textDorothy Macardle (1889–1958) was a historian, humanitarian and novelist, whose political activism and creative output positioned her as a significant yet marginalised figure in 20thcentury Irish history. A committed republican, Macardle was imprisoned without trial in 1922 for her anti-Treaty writings. Her incarceration in Mountjoy, Kilmainham Gaol, and the North Dublin Union, and the repeated destruction of her manuscripts by Free State soldiers, in the Abbey Theatre fire, and later by her own brother, contributed to the erasure of her legacy from dominant historical and cultural narratives. This study investigates how artistic
practice can engage with such silenced histories, focusing on Macardle’s prison diaries as texts of creative and political resistance. These diaries offer rare access to her inner voice, charting her thoughts on politics, philosophy, class and religion. They also reveal the evolving consciousness, dreams, and psychic experiences of an emerging Gothic writer whose contribution to modern Ireland is yet to be fully acknowledged. They are central to the Dorothy Macardle Archive and Performance Project (DMAPP), a creative research initiative that uses theatre, radio and film to explore how performance can respond to gaps in the archive, confront historical erasure, and amplify marginalised voices. Framed by feminist performance theory, archival theory, and memory studies, this project engages with the prison diaries as both historical documents and living texts that invite reinterpretation.
Drawing on the work of theorists such as Peggy Phelan, Jill Dolan, Michel Foucault, and Giorgio Agamben, the research explores key themes, including the spectral return of women erased from history, the symbolic violence of lost archives, and the incarceration of the female imagination. Through the lens of Practice-as-Research (PaR), DMAPP investigates
how embodied creative practice can generate new knowledge, animate forgotten stories, and contribute to a more inclusive cultural memory. Set within the broader context of the Decade of Centenaries, this work contributes to the growing efforts by historians, artists, and communities to reframe the revolutionary period through a more gender-inclusive lens. By reclaiming Macardle’s voice and legacy through performance, the project invites public reflection on the politics of memory, the ethics of archival engagement, and the potential of artistic practice to reshape our understanding of the past
Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy, Imaging and Machine Learning; for Wind Turbine Blade Materials and Contaminant Analysis
No full textIt has been well established in the literature that surface contamination can adversely affect the aerodynamic performance of aerofoils and, hence, the efficiency with which turbines can convert wind energy to electrical power. Thus, for optimal power production, it is critical to ensure that turbine blades are kept contaminantfree to the greatest extent possible. In this thesis, LIBS was performed in both the Vacuum Ultraviolet and Ultraviolet Visible spectral ranges. Analysis of the spectra
showed only slight variations in the constituent materials between clean and contaminated blade samples. Four methods were investigated to discriminate between clean and contaminated blades: Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis , Support Vector Machines , Competitive Learning, and Convolutional Neural Networks were evaluated. The spectral regions where machine learning algorithms were applied
were determined via a volumetric ellipsoid overlap test based on Principal Component Analysis . LIBS, in this way, can be used for interim end-point detection; that is, the point at which the laser has adequately removed contaminants from the current Area of Irradiation before moving to the adjacent AoI must also be determined. In addition to LIBS analysis, this work presents a new laser ablation cleaning protocol validated by profilometry. Statistical tests, such as ANOVA and Tukey’s HSD tests,
confirmed the significant improvement of surface smoothness after laser cleaning, proving the non-destructive nature of this technique over manual cleaning. Profilometry analysis showed that laser cleaning can selectively remove contaminants while preserving the integrity of the substrate. This thesis also presents novel advances in standoff detection systems. Telescopic imaging coupled with object detection models like YOLOv8 were utilised for remote monitoring of blade contamination and
damage with high precision and recall
Returnee Directors in Weak Institutional Contexts
No full textRich work on returnee directors—local individuals with foreign education and work experience—largely centres on their impact on firms in well-established or transitioning economies, where institutional support is robust. Given the significance of institutional frameworks on board and firm behaviour, understanding returnee directors’ impact on firms in
different institutional contexts is critical. Addressing this gap, this study adopts a multitheoretical perspective to investigate returnee directors’ impact on firms in countries of weak institutional support. Using hand-collected longitudinal data from annual reports of 224 SubSaharan African firms (2010–2021), the study employs a fixed-effect model.
Findings indicate that returnee directors facilitate intra-continental internationalisation activities. Importantly, this suggests that returnee directors with foreign experience outside the region can be of benefit to broader continental objectives, such as economic integration. Additionally,
returnee directors may positively influence firm value, highlighting their long-term contribution to performance, though this relationship depends on firm governance, ownership characteristics, and institutional quality. Robustness analyses confirm that the results withstand potential
endogeneity issues. The study makes three key theoretical contributions to the literature on board of directors/returnee directors: First, by integrating agency, resource dependency and signalling theories the impact of returnee directors on mitigating agency conflicts, securing essential external resources, and signalling positive corporate governance quality to investors is revealed. Second, the study
enriches the current understanding of the value returnee directors in weak institutional contexts showing that they may act as substitutes for traditional corporate governance mechanisms by leveraging their unique human and social capital to address firm and institutional deficiencies.Third, traditional agency theory on directors’ incentives is challenged, suggesting the need to rethink the independence of returnee directors and their incentives to focus on shareholders’ value maximisation. These findings have important implications for organisations, governments and agencies aiming to harness the potential of returnee professionals for economic developmen