NUI Maynooth Eprint Archive
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Victims of Crime: The Emotional Impact of Crime and The Court’s Response
No full textWhen a crime is committed, there is a breach in the law, and it must be brought to the
attention of the courts and society. There is another party that is affected by this breach, the
victim, who must deal with more than just the incident. One option they have is to face their
offender in court. This thesis will focus on the victim of the crime and what they go through
emotionally after the incident. The first aim is to explore the nature of the emotional impact of
crime on victims. The second aim is to study what happens when they are brought to the court,
considering secondary victimisation by the courts and the sources of support to deal with the
atmosphere. The information in this thesis was found entirely through desk-based research.
The study suggests that the emotional impact of a crime is apparent, with a variety of emotions
expressed. These emotions did not differ by crime type or in the previous mental health of the
victim. When victims brought their strife to court, they were met with having their rights
disregarded in the pursuit of a fair system. Their victimhood was constantly questioned and
regardless of the crime, they received no protection from further emotional harm. There are
some sources of support that the victim can access to make their time in the court easier. The
limitations come back to legal issues, with a lack of clarification so the support can be
efficiently used with their evidence of influence. The attitudes and behaviours of the courts
must be addressed so that victims are not forgotten
Prolonged Subculturing of Aspergillus fumigatus on Galleria Extract Agar Results in Altered Virulence and Sensitivity to Antifungal Agents
No full textAspergillus fumigatus is an environmental saprophyte and opportunistic fungal pathogen
of humans. The aim of the work presented here was to examine the effect of serially subculturing
A. fumigatus on agar generated from Galleria mellonella larvae in order to characterize the alterations
in the phenotypes that might occur. The passaged strains showed alterations in virulence, antifungal
susceptibility, and in protein abundances that may indicate adaptation after 25 passages over 231 days
on Galleria extract agar. Passaged strains demonstrated reduced virulence in G. mellonella larvae and
increased tolerance to hemocyte-mediated killing, hydrogen peroxide, itraconazole, and amphotericin
B. A label-free proteomic analysis of control and passaged A. fumigatus strains revealed a total
of 3329 proteins, of which 1902 remained following filtration, and 32 proteins were statistically
significant as well as differentially abundant. Proteins involved in the response to oxidative stress
were altered in abundance in the passaged strain and included (S)-S-oxide reductase (+2.63-fold),
developmental regulator FlbA (+2.27-fold), and histone H2A.Z (−1.82-fold). These results indicate
that the prolonged subculturing of A. fumigatus on Galleria extract agar results in alterations in the
susceptibility to antifungal agents and in the abundance of proteins associated with the oxidative
stress response. The phenomenon may be a result of selection for survival in adverse conditions
and highlight how A. fumigatus may adapt to tolerate the pulmonary immune response in cases of
human infection
Coverage Analysis of Tethered UAV-Assisted Large-Scale Cellular Networks
No full textOne of the major challenges slowing down the use of unmanned
aerial vehicles (UAVs) as aerial base stations (ABSs) is the limited
onboard power supply, which reduces the flight time of a UAV. Using
a tether to provide UAVs with power can be considered a reasonable
compromise that will enhance the flight time while limiting the mobility of the UAV. In this article, we propose a system where ABSs are
deployed at the centers of user hotspots to offload the traffic and assist
terrestrial base stations. First, given the location of the ground station
in the user hotspot (user cluster) and the spatial distribution of users,
we compute the optimal inclination angle and length of the tether.
Using these results, we compute the densities of the tethered UAVs
deployed at different altitudes, which enables the tractable analysis
of the interference in the considered setup. Next, using tools from
stochastic geometry and an approach of dividing user clusters into
finite frames, we analyze the coverage probability as a function of the
maximum tether length, the density of accessible rooftops for UAV
ground station deployment, and the density of clusters. We verify
our findings using Monte Carlo simulations and draw multiple useful
insights. For instance, we show that it is actually better to deploy UAVs
at a fraction of the clusters, not all of them as it is usually assumed in
the literature
The Role of Social Work Education in Relation to Empathy and Self-Reported Resilience: Results from Entry to Exit of Social Work Education on the Island of Ireland during the COVID-19 Pandemic
No full textThe COVID-19 pandemic has affected all aspects of people’s lives worldwide, including
the work of social workers and the education of social work students. Field placements are a significant part of social work education, but during the pandemic they
were cut short and most teachings moved online. The current mixed methods study
examined the effects of social work education on social work students’ empathy and
resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic on the island of Ireland. A matched sample
of forty-nine students completed an online survey at the start (T1) of their degree
and at the end (T2). A further 229 students who only completed the T1 survey were
compared to 70 others who only completed the T2 survey. The results showed improved resilience in the cohort comparison. There were no differences in empathy in
the matched sample nor between the cohorts. Thematic analysis of students’ narratives showed that they found the switch to online learning difficult, with some reporting negative impacts on their mental health and the abrupt ending of placements
impacting their feelings of preparedness for practice. Implications of this study and future research areas are discussed
Special ones? The effect of head coaches on football team performance
No full textUsing data from professional football leagues in four countries, we assess the effects on team performances following head coach turnover, distinguishing between voluntary
and involuntary exits. We use entropy balancing to deal
with the endogeneity of coach departures, by reweighting
pre-departure covariates to obtain a comparable control
group. Results reveal little, if any, positive effect from either type of turnover, though some longer-term benefits
are possible if teams experience no subsequent turnover.
We discuss how these findings fit with previous literature
and theory, and discuss the wider practical implications
Unpacking the motivational variables which impact engagement in Lesson Study: Mathematics teaching self-efficacy and attitudes towards self-development
No full textLesson study has received significant attention as a model of professional development among mathematics teachers. Evidence highlights its effectiveness in improving pedagogical practices and student learning, however, less is known about the predispositions which may encourage teachers’ participation in Lesson Study or the impact of participation on teachers’ attitudes. Such findings are relevant considering the voluntary context of teachers’ participation in professional development in Ireland.
This research investigates the motivational variables which impact teachers’ participation in Lesson Study, specifically their self-efficacy in teaching mathematics for conceptual understanding and their attitudes towards self-development in Lesson Study. Post-primary mathematics teachers (N = 64), spanning various levels of experience in Lesson Study, completed a survey using a set of pre-validated scales. Findings indicate that teachers’ mathematics teaching self-efficacy is a significant predictor of their participation in Lesson Study. Furthermore, the research finds that teachers’ familiarity with Lesson Study impacts the likelihood of their participation in this model of teacher education.
These findings build upon previous knowledge in this field and demonstrate the significance of teaching self-efficacy as a presage variable for developing a positive disposition towards Lesson Study. The paper discusses the implications of these findings for teacher education in Ireland
The relationship between sea surface temperature anomalies, wind and translation speed and North Atlantic tropical cyclone rainfall over ocean and land
No full textThere have been increasing losses from freshwater flooding associated with United States(US)
landfalling hurricanes in recent years. This study analyses the relationship between sea surface
temperature anomalies(SSTA), wind and translation speed and North Atlantic tropical cyclone
precipitation (TCP)for the period 1998-2017. Based on our statistical analysis of observation data, for
a 1 °C SST increase in the main development region (MDR), there is a 6% increase (not statistically
significant)in the TCP rate (mmhr−1
) over the Atlantic, which rises to over 40% over land (US states)
and appears linked not only to the Clausius-Clapeyron relationship but also to the increase in tropical
cyclone (TC)intensity associated with increasing SSTA. Total annual TCP is significantly correlated
with the SST in the MDR. Over the Atlantic there is an increase of 116% and over land there is an
increase of 140% in total TCP for a 1 °C rise in SST in the MDR. Again, this is linked to the increase in
windspeed and the number of TC tracks which also rises with positive SSTAs in the MDR. Our analysis
of landfalling TC tracks for nine US states provides a systematic review and highlights how TCP varies
by US state. The highest number of landfalls per year are found in Florida, North Carolina and Texas.
The median tropical cyclone translation speed is 20.3kmhr−1
, although this falls to 16.5 kmhr−1 over
land and there is a latitudinal dependence on translation speed. Overall, we find a different TCP
response to rising SST over the ocean and land, with the response over land over four times more than
the Clausius-Clapeyron rate. The links between SSTA in the MDR and both TCP rate and annual total
TCP provide useful insights for seasonal to decadal US flood prediction from TCs
Health and wellbeing implications of adaptation to flood risk
No full textAdaptation strategies to ameliorate the impacts
of climate change are increasing in scale and scope around
the world, with interventions becoming a part of daily life
for many people. Though the implications of climate
impacts for health and wellbeing are well documented, to
date, adaptations are largely evaluated by financial cost and
their effectiveness in reducing risk. Looking across
different forms of adaptation to floods, we use existing
literature to develop a typology of key domains of impact
arising from interventions that are likely to shape health
and wellbeing. We suggest that this typology can be used
to assess the health consequences of adaptation
interventions more generally and argue that such forms
of evaluation will better support the development of
sustainable adaptation planning
Deciphering extreme rainfall and historical floods at Easkey on the west coast of Ireland
No full textA written account of two flood events in 1844 and 1877 at Easkey in Co. Sligo on the west coast of Ireland is explored with several meteorological datasets and historical newspaper accounts. Gridded daily precipitation fields for Ireland for the late twentieth century are analysed to assess rainfall extremes and most probable month of the annual maximum. Historic rainfall datasets are analysed to corroborate the account of the floods. A lot of rainfall data have survived from the nineteenth century, but there is still an imperfect match between the written account and the old weather records
Electroanalysis of metronidazole using exfoliated MoS2 sheets and electrodeposited amorphous MoSx
No full textMolybdenum disulfide, MoS2, sheets were obtained by exfoliation of the bulk powders in an aqueous solution containing 1.0 mM tryptophan and then drop-cast onto a glassy carbon electrode to give GCE/MoS2. For comparative purposes, amorphous MoSx was electrodeposited directly onto the glassy carbon electrode from a 5 mM (NH4)2MoS4 solution. Both electrodes were employed in the electrochemical detection of the antibiotic metronidazole (MTZ). While the MTZ was reduced at both modified surfaces, the GCE/MoS2 was superior and this was attributed to a higher surface area, a lower charge-transfer resistance and to the presence of edges and defects in the sheets that facilitate the electron transfer reaction.
Using differential pulse voltammetry, impressive linear calibration curves were obtained for GCE/MoS2 extending from 1.9 to 2000 μM and from 40 to 1990 nM at the lower concentrations. A high sensitivity of 13.32 μA μM–1 cm–2 and a LOD value of 4.3 nM were obtained using the lower concentration linear range. Good selectivity was achieved in the presence of interferents typically found in aquatic environments, with acceptable repeatability, good stability over a 7-day period and good recovery (88.7 ± 3.9%) in water samples taken from a river