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Inclusive education and the law in Ireland
No full textBy ratifying the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in 2018, Ireland has
undertaken inter alia the obligation to implement ‘an inclusive education system at all levels and lifelong
learning’, as required by Article 24. However, concerns have been repeatedly expressed about the practice
of inclusive education in Ireland in terms of admission policies, funding, school choice and reduced timetabling. This paper investigates whether, and to what extent, the current approach to special educational
needs (SEN) in Ireland complies with the aim of ensuring an inclusive educational system in which children with disabilities are valued and empowered. Ireland is an interesting case-study due to its history of
marginalisation of children with disabilities and its relatively recent engagement with the concept of inclusive education. By using a socio-legal approach, drawing on qualitative interviews with key stakeholders in
education combined with a legal analysis of relevant primary and secondary sources, it examines the current practices relating to the education of children with disabilities in Ireland
Revival or bilingualism? The impact of European nationalist thinking on Irish language curricular policy around the advent of political independence in Ireland
No full textFollowing a period of close to a century when the Irish language was placed at the margins of the education system under British rule, there was a radical change in curriculum provision following political independence in Ireland in the 1920s. The importance of the Irish language in defining sovereignty, national identity, and nationhood in the Irish Free State was central to these curricular changes. Within months of the achievement of political independence, curriculum policy was revised to include provision for the teaching of the Irish language to all pupils in primary schools as well as the use of Irish as the medium of instruction in infant classes (the first two years of primary school). The education system became the linchpin in the political and cultural campaign to restore the Irish language as the vernacular. This paper critically examines how nationalist thinking in Ireland, which had its origins in nineteenth-century European discourses, impacted on curriculum decisions pertaining to the Irish language in the early 1900s. Focusing on the interrelationship between nationalism, language, and education, it traces the process and provisions of curriculum development in Ireland in the 1920s. Overall the paper argues that the influence of nationalism as understood in the wider European context of the time shifted emphasis in Ireland away from bilingualism (Irish and English languages) to the revival of the Irish language in the 1920s, primarily through the education system, to add political legitimacy to the new Irish Free State
An Anatomy of Fungal Eye: Fungal Photoreceptors and Signalling Mechanisms.
No full text: Organisms have developed different features to capture or sense sunlight. Vertebrates have
evolved specialized organs (eyes) which contain a variety of photosensor cells that help them to see
the light to aid orientation. Opsins are major photoreceptors found in the vertebrate eye. Fungi, with
more than five million estimated members, represent an important clade of living organisms which
have important functions for the sustainability of life on our planet. Light signalling regulates a range
of developmental and metabolic processes including asexual sporulation, sexual fruit body formation,
pigment and carotenoid production and even production of secondary metabolites. Fungi have
adopted three groups of photoreceptors: (I) blue light receptors, White Collars, vivid, cryptochromes,
blue F proteins and DNA photolyases, (II) red light sensors, phytochromes and (III) green light sensors
and microbial rhodopsins. Most mechanistic data were elucidated on the roles of the White Collar
Complex (WCC) and the phytochromes in the fungal kingdom. The WCC acts as both photoreceptor
and transcription factor by binding to target genes, whereas the phytochrome initiates a cascade
of signalling by using mitogen-activated protein kinases to elicit its cellular responses. Although
the mechanism of photoreception has been studied in great detail, fungal photoreception has not
been compared with vertebrate vision. Therefore, this review will mainly focus on mechanistic
findings derived from two model organisms, namely Aspergillus nidulans and Neurospora crassa and
comparison of some mechanisms with vertebrate vision. Our focus will be on the way light signalling
is translated into changes in gene expression, which influences morphogenesis and metabolism
in fungi
The Effect of Message Valence and Emoji Types on Processing Fluency when Reading Text Messages
No full textThe main goal of this thesis was to examine the influence of face and non-face emoji as a means to increase processing fluency and ratings of rapport in positive and negative contexts. This thesis aimed to draw on two key theoretical frameworks – the Processing Fluency Framework and the Rapport Management Model. In an initial naturalistic analysis (Chapter Two), the prevalence and types of emoji used were investigated, along with their relationship to self-presentation and related variables. Face but not non-face emoji were found to be linked to self-presentation variables, although the effects were weak. These emoji informed the design of subsequent experiments. In a series of five experiments (Chapters Three to Seven), the effect of face and non-face emoji on processing fluency and rapport were examined across positive and negative message contexts and manipulating a series of variables of relevance to the emoji (e.g., type, position, congruency with message). In each experiment, participants were presented with hypothetical text messages between friends and asked to rate them on a series of measures relating to fluency (efficiency, clarity, and/ or understandability and believability) and rapport (interest in the friendship and improving the friendship). Consistent with previous literature, emoji presence affected processing fluency and rapport. However, the effect varied depending on message valence, emoji types and the specific message content. Overall, the findings suggest a connection between processing fluency and rapport, related to the perception of emoji in text messages, a relationship which to date has not been identified in the literature. The findings, while supporting the processing fluency account, suggest that emoji effects are more complex, context dependent and nuanced than originally expected
Statistical analysis and mathematical modelling of lymphocyte population dynamics
No full textLymphocytes, comprising of B and T cells, are important members of the adaptive
immune system of vertebrates that play a crucial role in defending against harmful
pathogens. They are equipped with receptors capable of recognising specific antigens.
After activation, they proliferate to form an exponentially growing clone army.
Eventually, those cells cease to divide and then largely die over a period of weeks,
but leave a small number of cells, called memory cells, that can rapidly respond to
any repeated infection. To study such non-linear population dynamics, experimental
systems have been designed that generate data at the level of populations, families
and single cells to elucidate underlying mechanisms that regulate expansion, cessation,
and contraction of cell numbers.
In this thesis, we report on the development of a novel stochastic model of cellular
population dynamics, based on Hawkins et al. (2007a), that accounts for experimentally
observed correlation structure within family members. In particular, the
inheritance of cell division, cessation, and death times within a stochastic model
framework considered, and their impact on cell population dynamics are investigated.
Model assumptions are informed by datasets from time-lapse microscopy
experiments and statistically tested within the Bayesian framework. Consequences
of the dependencies are demonstrated with family trees generated by a Monte-Carlo
simulation. To assess the model's ability to extract meaningful inferences from
population-level data, we design an optimisation strategy to estimate model parameters
and investigate its accuracy and precision for a given dataset from in
vitro murine system. With the analysis pipeline, the model is applied to both
in vitro murine and human lymphocyte populations to test hypotheses and draw
meaningful biological conclusions. For instance, we demonstrate signal integration
for T cells from transgenic mice as a linear sum in a time domain, and as a result,
the model successfully recapitulates the data. Lastly, we extend the remit of the
stochastic modelling framework by exploring mechanisms of B cell differentiation
to antibody-secreting cells and their class switching to different isotypes. A simple
probabilistic model that captures molecular changes within these cells sheds light
on the process of determining the types of antibodies to produce and predicting the
magnitude associated with them
Glycogen-fuelled metabolism supports rapid mucosal-associated invariant T cell responses
No full textMucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells are a subset of unconventional T cells which recognize a limited repertoire of ligands presented by the MHC class-I like molecule MR1. In addition to their key role in host protection against bacterial and viral pathogens, MAIT cells are emerging as potent anti-cancer effectors. With their abundance in human, unrestricted properties, and rapid effector functions MAIT cells are emerging as attractive candidates for immunotherapy. In the current study, we demonstrate that MAIT cells are potent cytotoxic cells, rapidly degranulating and inducing target cell death. Previous work from our group and others has highlighted glucose metabolism as a critical process for MAIT cell cytokine responses at 18 h. However, the metabolic processes supporting rapid MAIT cell cytotoxic responses are currently unknown. Here, we show that glucose metabolism is dispensable for both MAIT cell cytotoxicity and early (<3 h) cytokine production, as is oxidative phosphorylation. We show that MAIT cells have the machinery required to make (GYS-1) and metabolize (PYGB) glycogen and further demonstrate that that MAIT cell cytotoxicity and rapid cytokine responses are dependent on glycogen metabolism. In summary, we show that glycogen-fueled metabolism supports rapid MAIT cell effector functions (cytotoxicity and cytokine production) which may have implications for their use as an immunotherapeutic agent
A MUSE Exploration of Edge Cases in Jet Launching
No full textThe evolution of stellar objects and the potential planetary systems that form around
them are core preoccupations for astronomers. Common to many sun-like stars in their
formative years is the presence of astrophysical jets. They are tightly linked to accretion
processes and are believed to play a crucial role in stellar evolution by carrying away mass
and angular momentum, but the process by which they are launched is not yet determined.
The majority of our knowledge comes from the study of low-mass Classical T-Tauri stars,
and advances in instrumentation – particularly in ground-based astronomy – have made it
possible to observe jets closer to their region of launch. The goal of this thesis is to utilize
high angular resolution integral field spectroscopy to explore less common jet launching
sources in an effort to better understand jet behavior and its impact on stellar evolution.
We present MUSE observations of the intermediate-mass Herbig Ae star HD 163296, the
giant Orion proplyd 244-440, and the proto-brown dwarf candidate Mayrit 1082188, each
of which features a unique outflow system and together constitute a rich data set spanning
a range of age, mass, and environment. In our study of HD 163296 we observe a complex
outflow system that is still active despite its age. We analyze the morphology of the
proplyd jet system and find it is possibly driven by a smaller companion hidden within
the photoevaporating disk. In our final study we discover a large cavity associated with
Mayrit 1082188, which suggests a wind-driven process similar to standard outflow models.
A key finding of this work is the evidence of commonality, and our results indicate that the
outflow mechanism is efficient in its utilization of material, durable in its ability to launch
under harsh conditions, and scalable in power to the mass of the driving source
Beyond ‘stagnation and change’?: Path dependency, translation and the ‘layering’ over time of Irish penal policy
No full textIn the past decade or so a significant body of work on
‘Hibernian exceptionalism’ to broader punitive trends
has emerged. The dominant argument and characterisation of Irish penality within this broad schema is that it is
exceptional for having been largely stagnant. This article
takes issue with the stagnation or ‘stickiness’ that is often
supposed to characterise the Irish penal system arguing
that stagnation as a form of ‘path dependency’ fails to
adequately account for key moments of penal change
and downplays the temporal dynamics that are often
apparent in policy development. Using two key ‘policy
windows’ as case studies – the 1996 ‘moral panic’ over
crime and the post-2011 turn to a more progressive penal
politics – it argues that greater consideration should be
given to the ‘translation’ and ‘layering’ of policy decisions and the growing complexity of policy space that
may result
Student Engagement with Technology-Enhanced Resources in Mathematics in Higher Education: A Review
No full textThe effectiveness of technology-enhanced resources in mathematics in higher education is
far from clear, nor is student engagement with such resources. In this review article, we investigate the
existing literature in three interrelated areas: student engagement with technology in higher education
and mathematics; what works and what does not in technology in education and in mathematics in
higher education; evaluating the use of technology in higher education and mathematics; and the use
of frameworks and models. Over 300 research articles were identified for this purpose and the results
are reported in this review. We found a dearth of studies in undergraduate mathematics education
that specifically focus on student engagement with technology. In addition, there is no overarching
framework that describes both the pedagogical aspects and the educational context of technology
integration in mathematics
Introduction: Thinking about Ireland's Future, Then and Now
No full textIn May 2022, the Royal Irish Academy organized four seminars under the title "Ireland 2030." This piece is an introduction to a selection of papers from these seminars, published in a special issue of _Studies_, the well-known Irish quarterly review. The introduction provides context for the papers and summarizes them. It also sketches a methodology for thinking about the future, attempting to derive such a methodology from Eamon de Valera's famous speech, "The Ireland That We Dreamed Of." Upon close reading, this speech, often derided by critics, turns out to be of considerable philosophical interest. It offers a sophisticated theopolitics based upon a Christian eschatology. With its emphasis on modest living in tune with limited natural resources, de Valera's vision remains compelling