NUI Maynooth Eprint Archive
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Association of perceptions of artificial light-at-night, light-emitting device usage and environmental noise appraisal with psychological distress, sleep quality and chronotype: A cross sectional study
No full textExposure to artificial light-at-night (ALAN) is increasing globally, and there are concerns around how ALAN may impact sleep, psychological and physical health. However, there is a lack of evidence in the literature on how individuals perceive ALAN relative to their sleeping environment and habits, and how such perceptions correspond to objectively assessed night-time illuminance at the level of the residence. This cross-sectional study examined how such perceptions associate with sleep quality, sleep timing, psychological distress and cognitive failures. Further we examined the association between illuminance levels calculated as the biologically-relevant melatonin-suppression index (MSI) and the self-report of perception of ALAN. Five hundred and fifty two adult participants completed a survey addressing perception of ALAN in sleep environment along with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Munich Chronotype Questionnaire, Cognitive Failure Questionnaire and the General Health Questionnaire. We report that perception of external ALAN in the sleeping environment was associated with poorer sleep quality, more cognitive failures and greater psychological distress, when controlling for age, sex, house location and MSI. No associations were found between the perception of external ALAN and MSI scores, and MSI scores were not associated with scores on any of the self-report measures. Internal lighting passing into the sleeping environment was associated with poorer sleep quality but not with psychological wellbeing. Habitual use of light-emitting devices was associated with poorer psychological wellbeing but not with sleep quality and sleep timing. Perception of environmental noise annoyance at night was associated with higher psychological distress and poorer quality sleep, and the perception of noise annoyance was associated with perception of ALAN. These results may suggest heightened attentional bias towards ALAN associated with poor sleep quality and higher levels of psychological distress, and highlight the need for more granular approaches in the study of ALAN and sleep and psychological health in terms of levels individual ALAN exposure, and an interpretation that seeks to integrate biological and psychological perspectives
The Challenges of Professional Development in the European Higher Education Area:Targeting Success in Writing, Research, Learning and Teaching
No full textIn this chapter we report on an element of a European COST
Action which set out to explore centralised models of pro-
fessional learning for higher education staff across writing,
research, learning and teaching. Specifically, we report on our
examination of three things: the provision of professional
support across writing, research, learning and teaching; the fac-
tors which influence the research participants’ engagement in
writing, research, learning and teaching; the sort of profession-
al support that the research participants found either effective
or desirable in terms of writing, research, learning and teach-
ing. Based on analysis of the data, in the context of the COST
Action, we suggest three themes to be considered with regard
to the provision of professional learning for higher education
colleagues across these four areas, namely, character, commu-
nity and context. In our discussion and concluding remarks we emphasize the importance of the human component of higher
education and the need for collaborative approaches which are
meaningful and context sensitive
Acceleration of Digital Pre- Distortion Training Using Selective Partitioning
No full textIn recent years model and Digital Pre-Distortion
dimension reduction has been widely researched. The oper-
ations involved when running DPD are often far less than
those needed during the training of the DPD coefficients. The
proposed partitioned Least Squares (LS) adaptation allows a
selected subset of DPD coefficients to be updated while the
remaining coefficients are held constant. This technique allows
a more adaptive training procedure, improved interpretability
of the important DPD coefficient’s during training and the
ability to partition the DPD function into specific groups. The
Frisch-Waugh-Lovell (FWL) theorem is exploited to partition the
coefficients of a DPD basis function trained using LS regression.
The proposed methodology was experimentally validated with a
Generalized Memory Polynomial (GMP) DPD function, used to
linearize a 5W power amplifier (PA) driven by a 40MHz 5G-NR
signal
Proteomic analysis of summer and winter Apis mellifera workers shows reduced protein abundance in winter samples
No full textApis mellifera workers display two stages; short lived summer bees that engage in nursing, hive maintenance and foraging, and long lived winter bees (diutinus bees) which remain within the hive and are essential for thermoregulation and rearing the next generation of bees in spring before dying. Label free quantitative proteomic analysis was conducted on A. mellifera workers sampled in June and December to compare the proteomes of summer and winter bees. Proteomic analysis was performed on head, abdominal and venom sac samples and revealed an elevated level of protein abundance in summer bees. Head and abdominal samples displayed an increased abundance in cuticular proteins in summer samples whereas an increase in xenobiotic proteins was observed in winter samples. Several carbohydrate metabolism pathways which have been linked to energy production and longevity in insects were increased in abundance in winter samples in comparison to summer samples. Proteomic analysis of the venom sacs of summer samples showed an increased abundance of bee venom associated proteins in comparison to winter workers. These data provides an insight into the adaptions of A. mellifera workers in summer and winter and may aid in future treatment and disease studies on honeybee colonies. Data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD030483
“Data makes the story come to life:” understanding the ethical and legal implications of Big Data research involving ethnic minority healthcare workers in the United Kingdom—a qualitative study
No full textThe aim of UK-REACH (“The United Kingdom Research study into Ethnicity And COVID-19 outcomes in Healthcare workers”) is to understand if, how, and why healthcare workers (HCWs) in the United Kingdom (UK) from ethnic minority groups are at increased risk of poor outcomes from COVID-19. In this article, we present findings from the ethical and legal stream of the study, which undertook qualitative research seeking to understand and address legal, ethical, and social acceptability issues around data protection, privacy, and information governance associated with the linkage of HCWs’ registration data and healthcare data. We interviewed 22 key opinion leaders in healthcare and health research from across the UK in two-to-one semi-structured interviews. Transcripts were coded using qualitative thematic analysis. Participants told us that a significant aspect of Big Data research in public health is varying drivers of mistrust—of the research itself, research staff and funders, and broader concerns of mistrust within participant communities, particularly in the context of COVID-19 and those situated in more marginalised community settings. However, despite the challenges, participants also identified ways in which legally compliant and ethically informed approaches to research can be crafted to mitigate or overcome mistrust and establish greater confidence in Big Data public health research. Overall, our research indicates that a “Big Data Ethics by Design” approach to research in this area can help assure (1) that meaningful community and participant engagement is taking place and that extant challenges are addressed, and (2) that any new challenges or hitherto unknown unknowns can be rapidly and properly considered to ensure potential (but material) harms are identified and minimised where necessary. Our findings indicate such an approach, in turn, will help drive better scientific breakthroughs that translate into medical innovations and effective public health interventions, which benefit the publics studied, including those who are often marginalised in research
Hume’s “Bundle of Perceptions” and the “Problem of the I” in Brentano’s Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint: With Translations of Original Writings on Philosophy as Science by Franz Brentano
No full textIn Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint (1874), Brentano defines
psychology as the science of psychical phenomena rather than study of the
soul. As such, he does not address Hume’s objection regarding the existence
of the soul as substantial bearer of human experiences or his conclusion that
the “self” is merely “a bundle of perceptions.” Yet Brentano has an implicit understanding of the self that radically challenges various conceptions of self by
Hume, Kant, Mill, Comte and others. This paper explains how Brentano circumvents Hume’s “problem of the I,” by calling into question his views on causality
and outlines certain features of Brentano’s account of the self that are most relevant to its understanding and evaluation. In conclusion, it argues that there is
another “problem of the I” in Brentano’s understanding of the self in PES, to
which he is oblivious, but which some of his followers struggled to resolve
‘That Doesn’t Leave You’: Psychological Dirt and Taint in Prison Officers’ Occupational Cultures and Identities
No full textThis article examines the conceptualization of prison officers as psychologically ‘dirty’. It defines the novel ‘psychological taint’ and taint management strategies in their occupational cultures. Drawing on ethnographic data, psychological taint’s three sources are identified as the psychological processes necessary to do their job, contamination through association with groups stigmatized as mentally unwell, and the pernicious effects of prison work. The article analyses the relationship between unaddressed anxiety provoked in prison work and the amplified salience of external threat in psychological taint. While advancing studies of occupational cultures and identities, psychological taint offers a constructive lens to analyse occupations across multiple fields. The presented implications address the nature of prison workplaces, punishment and the provision of mental health supports
Adequate and Inclusive Housing for All: a human right based approach
No full textCities are rapidly urbanizing
and this in turn aggravates
the global challenges like climate
changes, extreme weather events,
and poverty. As compared to
2018, when 55% of the world’s
population lived in urban areas,
it is estimated that by 2050, this
number will rise to 68%. Urbanization could add another 2.5 billion
people to urban areas, with close
to 90% of the increase taking place
in Asia and Africa (United Nations,
2018). India alone is projected to
add 416 million urban dwellers to
its population. In 2016, the New
Urban Agenda (NUA) was adopted
by the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable
Urban Development (Habitat III),
emphasizing the importance of the
concept of inclusivity in designing
and managing our cities. It also
promulgated the concept of Right
to the City (R2C) for developing
a revised planning framework to
fulfill the international objectives
and targets under the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDG) (United
Nations Habitat III, 2016a)
COVID-19 pandemic disruptions to working lives: A multilevel examination of impacts across career stages
No full textSince early 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted societies worldwide. As we moved from
expecting the closure of society to be a short-term one to experiencing it as a longer-term phenomenon, we lacked understanding about how the pandemic has affected the working lives and
wellbeing of employees in different life and career stages. Drawing from lifespan development
approaches and Job Demands-Resources (JD-R), we considered the effect this profound disruption
had on stress, burnout, and job satisfaction across career stages over time. We took a multi-level
approach to the analysis of three waves of data. Disruptions were a predictor of stress and
negatively affected disengagement and job satisfaction over time. We found differences in the
ways in which people in different career stages reacted to these disruptions and adjusted over
time. Job autonomy positively influenced wellbeing over time, however perceived organizational
support contributed to growth in burnout disengagement and exhaustion and lower job satisfaction over time. We discuss the implications of our findings for workplaces managing in the
aftermath of external shocks going forward