NUI Maynooth Eprint Archive
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How Well Do High-Achieving Undergraduate Students Understand School Algebra?
No full textThe aim of this research is to investigate how well high-achieving students entering tertiary-level education in Ireland understand school algebra. As part of a larger project, a 31-item test was developed to assess first-year undergraduate students’ understanding of basic algebraic concepts. The test was administered online to students studying at least one mathematics module at tertiary level and received 327 responses. In this article, we study how the subset of high-achieving undergraduates in our sample performed on the test. The results demonstrated a very high level of understanding among students, as befits their level of study and prior achievement relative to the difficulty of the test. However, one subsection of the test stood out as being disproportionately difficult for these students. The section focused on valid solutions of equations and inequalities. The items in question are described in detail in this article as is the associated data. Our analysis shows that this topic is an area of concern even for high-achieving undergraduates and so deserves further attention. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of this research and details of the larger project
Lactose Biosensor Development and Deployment in Dairy Product Analysis
No full textHerein, development of an enzymatic biosensor for rapid quantitation of the disaccharide lactose in dairy samples (whey permeates and milk protein isolates (MPI)) is presented. Biosensor fabrication involved a chitosan/enzyme/crosslinker configuration with enzymes glucose oxidase and β-galactosidase at platinum and glassy carbon electrodes. Solution phase mediation was used to lower the operating potential (Eapp = 0.3 V vs Ag/AgCl), minimising any contribution from endogenous background electroactive species. Potential sweep and potentiostatic experiments realised analytical data for the lactose sensor with linear range 5.83 × 10−3 to 1.65 × 10−2 M, sensitivity 9.41 × 10−4 C cm−2 mM−1 and LOD of 1.38 mM. Scanning electrochemical microscopy realised surface characterisation of the enzyme layers with approach curves and redox competition mode imaging achieved over the active enzyme bilayer. Both glucose and lactose sensing was realised in whey permeate sample measuring 23.7 mM lactose, correcting for free glucose contributing signals, with 92.2% correlation with results obtained from the sample certificate of analysis. Solution phase mediation at glassy carbon enzyme electrodes resulted in lactose quantitation in milk protein isolates, measuring 1.16 mM for the MPI 1 (low lactose) and 1.54 mM for the MPI 10 (standard) sample with validation by HPLC analysis
Feminist Musical Activism in Ireland (2016–21) and Feminist Musicology
No full textMusic has been a key site of feminist activism in Ireland since 2016. This article explores the multiple ways in which feminist collectives have challenged structural inequalities in Ireland's music world. The discussion of collectives such as Sounding the Feminists, FairPlé, Why Not Her? and Irish Women in Harmony shows that this activism amounts to a larger movement. The movement concerns several genres and cuts across a range of professional and amateur activities, including performance and composition. This article further offers an analysis of the Irish feminist conditions influencing this movement. These include the "Repeal" campaign, whereby activists worked to repeal the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland, so that the state would legislate for abortion. The article further calls for a more expansive discourse in feminist musicology to accommodate feminist musical activism and research beyond academia. It also frames and critiques this activism as gendered "equality labour.
Novel Demodex detection method involving non-invasive sebum collection and next-generation sequencing
No full textIntroduction: Demodex mites are common human ectoparasites found across a broad geographical range. They reside in pilosebaceous units of the skin and feed on sebum, epithelial and glandular cells. D. folliculorum is the more common mite, inhabiting the upper end of the pilosebaceous unit while D. brevis resides deeper in the skin and meibomian glands. Until now, Demodex mites have been obtained by various techniques such as skin scraping, cellophane tape, plucking eyelashes, and also by invasive biopsies.
Aim: To assess whether non-invasively collected sebum samples of patients suspected of rosacea or demodicosis are suitable for NGS DNA Demodex analysis.
Material and methods: Suspicion of seborrheic dermatitis or rosacea was the inclusion criterion. The study group consisted of 20 males, 1 female, age: 33-83, median: 58. Nasal dorsum was moisturized and an adhesive strip was applied. DNA was isolated from the sebum and sequenced with the use of MiSeq® Reagent Kit v2 and MiSeq® System.
Results: Out of 7 patients who were positive by microscopy, 6 were found positive by NGS. Additional 4 patients were found positive only by NGS, adding to a total of ten. The NGS approach showed superior sensitivity compared to light microscopy (63% and 44%, respectively). In 3 patients, both Demodex species were identified by NGS.
Conclusions: We believe to have proven that it is possible to study Demodex mites by NGS with sebum as the input sample. Furthermore, it is possible to identify and distinguish Demodex folliculorum from D. brevis in individual patients
Histamine Produced by Gram-Negative Bacteria Impairs Neutrophil’s Antimicrobial Response by Engaging the Histamine 2 Receptor
No full textWe found that histamine (10-9 M) did not have any effect on the in vitro capture of Escherichia coli by neutrophils but accelerated its intracellular killing. In contrast, histamine (10-6 M) delayed the capture of Escherichia coli by neutrophils and reduced the amounts of pHrodo zymosan particles inside acidic mature phagosomes. Histamine acted through the H4R and the H2R, which are coupled to the Src family tyrosine kinases or the cAMP/protein kinase A pathway, respectively. The protein kinase A inhibitor H-89 abrogated the delay in bacterial capture induced by histamine (10-6 M) and the Src family tyrosine kinase inhibitor PP2 blocked histamine (10-9 M) induced acceleration of bacterial intracellular killing and tyrosine phosphorylation of proteins. To investigate the role of histamine in pathogenicity, we designed an Acinetobacter baumannii strain deficient in histamine production (hdc::TOPO). Galleria mellonella larvae inoculated with the wild-type Acinetobacter baumannii ATCC 17978 strain (1.1 × 105 CFU) died rapidly (100% death within 40 h) but not when inoculated with the Acinetobacter baumannii hdc::TOPO mutant (10% mortality). The concentration of histamine rose in the larval haemolymph upon inoculation of the wild type but not the Acinetobacter baumannii hdc::TOPO mutant, such concentration of histamine blocks the ability of hemocytes from Galleria mellonella to capture Candida albicans in vitro. Thus, bacteria-producing histamine, by maintaining high levels of histamine, may impair neutrophil phagocytosis by hijacking the H2R
Exposure of Apis mellifera to anti-Varroa destructor formic acid treatment induces significant proteomic alterations
No full textThe parasitic mite Varroa destructor is a major threat to the health and productivity of Apis mellifera hives and induces its effect by feeding on the fat body of larvae/pupae and transmitting
viruses. The effect of the anti-Varroa formic acid containing – Mite Away Quick (MAQ) strips on
the proteome of A. mellifera was assessed. Samples of A. mellifera were isolated from hives one
week prior to MAQ treatment, during the week of treatment and for two weeks after the end
of treatment, proteins were extracted and analysed by label free quantitative proteomics. The
results indicated that samples isolated during the week of treatment showed increased abundance of a range of cuticular proteins (þ 2.65 fold to þ 6.64 fold) and decreased abundance of
proteins that deal with xenobiotics (Cytochrome P450 subunits -11.38 fold to -2.16 fold).
Interestingly some proteins associated with the oxidative phosphorylation pathway were
increased in abundance (e.g., Cox5a and Cox5b) but others (e.g., Coxfa4) were decreased. The
results presented here reveal that the application of MAQ strips caused a dramatic disruption
to the proteome of A. mellifera, but the effect is transient and two weeks after the end of treatment the proteome has returned to resemble that of the untreated control. While MAQ strips
are effective in reducing Varroa populations, the results presented here indicate they can
adversely affect the proteome of A. mellifera and may contribute to the elevated stress in hives
previously affected by Varroa parasitisation
Leading Change: Reproductive Rights, Empowerment and Feminist Solidarity in the Dublin Bay North Repeal the 8th Campaign
No full textThis article examines how the Dublin Bay North (DBN) Repeal the 8th activist group, an independent women-led, grassroots movement in the largest constituency in Ireland, practiced a collectivist approach to forms of ‘power-with’ and ‘power-to’ (Allen, 2018) that enabled the group to create an activist community based upon a feminist ethics of ‘caring-with’ (Tronto, 1993). In 2018 in Dublin, what had been a narrow majority in 1983 against abortion rights became a decisive 3:1 margin in favour. While this remarkable change can be attributed to the efforts of numerous feminist and reproductive rights activists working for many years, including those tied to the national Together for Yes campaign, less attention has been paid to new activist leaders participating at the grassroots level. This article focuses on the leadership roles adopted by first-time grassroots activists who became ‘team leaders’ and ran decentralised campaigns in their neighbourhoods. Using qualitative analyses of a survey of 125 members (June 2018), 16 semi-structured interviews with DBN team leaders and other key people within the campaign (October 2018 and March 2019), and the authors’ own experiences, we consider how new activists recruited and empowered others to tell their stories, canvass, and lead their own actions
Flexible Methodologies: A Case for Approaching Research with Fluidity
No full textUndertaking qualitative research requires flexibility in academics, because researching peoples’ life worlds is an inherently
messy process because the lived realities of those being researched can be convoluted and changing. Academics make structured research designs with the implicit knowledge that the research will not happen in a linear way. This knowledge takes
time and experience to achieve. In this article I propose flexible methodologies to describe researchers’ adaptability in
terms of their methods, techniques, positionalities, roles, and changes in the research plan. For my PhD research looking
at a range of urban places and spaces in Dublin, by being fluid in my research from the beginning, I was able to gain a
deeper understanding of the life worlds of my participants, and I demonstrate this with three vignettes from my own
research. Rather than adjusting my research plan as problems occurred, I instead began with a flexible approach. I argue
that beginning with flexibility can aid graduate students in understanding changes and developments in research as a
positive, necessary shift in the research plan and is helpful to beginner researchers but also their supervisors. Flexible
methodologies are a pragmatic approach for PhD students and early career researchers to achieve their research aims
Gravitational Stability of Vortices in Bose-Einstein Condensate Dark Matter
No full textWe investigate a simple model for a galactic halo under the assumption that it is dominated by a dark matter component in the form of a Bose-Einstein condensate involving an ultra-light scalar particle. In particular we discuss the possibility if the dark matter is in superfluid state then a rotating galactic halo might contain quantised vortices which would be low-energy analogues of cosmic strings. Using known solutions for the density profiles of such vortices we compute the self-gravitational interactions in such halos and place bounds on the parameters describing such models, such as the mass of the particles involved