NUI Maynooth Eprint Archive
Not a member yet
18159 research outputs found
Sort by
Making Connections in Challenging Times - The Transformative Potential of Poetry for Critical Global Education
No full textThe transformative role of global education (GE) has come to the fore in recent years in the face of increasingly complex and challenging global development realities. At the heart of this is a call for learning which enables people to make connections beyond simplifications but which address divisions and inequalities. Despite the rhetoric, GE is not always as critical or transformative as it aspires to be. Here, I focus on how poetry can support educators to make connections with complexity, diversity and alternatives that, I argue, are needed to address contemporary global challenges. Inspired, in part, by the proliferation of interest in poetry since the COVID-19 pandemic, I draw on research conducted with global education facilitators in Ireland in 2016. Through the discussion of a few examples, I invite educators to reflect on how they might engage with poetry to enhance the transformative potential of GE in their own contexts
Intermediate curvatures and highly connected manifolds
No full textWe show that after forming a connected sum with a homotopy sphere, all (2j-1)-connected 2j-parallelisable manifolds in dimension 4j+1, j > 0, can be equipped with Riemannian metrics of 2-positive Ricci curvature. When j=1 we extend the above to certain classes of simply-connected non-spin 5-manifolds. The condition of 2-positive Ricci curvature is defined to mean that the sum of the two smallest eigenvalues of the Ricci tensor is positive at every point. This result is a counterpart to a previous result of the authors concerning the existence of positive Ricci curvature on highly connected manifolds in dimensions 4j-1 for j > 1, and in dimensions 4j+1 for j > 0 with torsion-free cohomology. A key technical innovation involves performing surgery on links of
spheres within 2-positive Ricci curvature
Heterostructures of mixed metal oxides (ZnMnO3/ZnO) synthesized by a wet-chemical approach and their application for the electrochemical detection of the drug chlorpromazine
No full textMaterials development using heterostructures is generally considered an efficient method for developing electrocatalysts. However, it still faces many challenges, such as instability and accurate phase mixing ratio of metals. On the other hand, the excessive consumption of drugs such as chlorpromazine (CPMZ) leads to several serious human diseases. Therefore, the accurate detection and determination of CPMZ is essential. In this view, a highly efficient electrochemical sensor based on a heterostructure of ZnMnO3/ZnO NPs/GCE was fabricated to detect the psychotic drug CPMZ. The heterostructure of cubic ZnMnO3 (ZMO) and hexagonal zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZMO/ZnO NPs) was synthesized by a simple co-precipitation method followed by thermal calcination. The as-prepared material crystallinity and average crystal size (26 nm) were analyzed by p-XRD. The morphology of the ZMO/ZnO NPs was analyzed by SEM and HR-TEM, which revealed the formation of non-uniform spherical and hexagonal nanoparticles with a size of ∼10-30 nm. FT-IR and XPS were used to investigate the functional groups and oxidation states of the ZMO/ZnO NPs. The electrochemical properties of the ZMO/ZnO NPs/GCE were analyzed by EIS, CV, and DPV methods. ZMO/ZnO/GCE has improved electrochemical activity for detecting CPMZ. In addition, the ZMO/ZnO/GCE electrochemical probe has two linear ranges (0.05–125.55 μM and 185.55–1625 μM) and good sensitivity (0.760 μA μM−1 cm−2) with a low detection limit of 0.019 μM. Analysis of real samples was performed in human blood serum and urine, and the recoveries of CPMZ were 96–100% and 98–100%, respectively
Improving the Chamberlin Digital State Variable Filter
No full textThe state variable filter configuration is a classic analogue design which has been employed in many electronic music applications. A digital implementation of this filter was put forward by Chamberlin, which has been deployed in both software and hardware forms. While this has proven to be a straightforward and successful digital filter design, it suffers from some issues, which have already been identified in the literature. From a modified Chamberlin block diagram, we derive the transfer functions describing its three basic responses, highpass, bandpass, and lowpass. An analysis of these leads to the development of an improvement, which attempts to better shape the filter spectrum. From these new transfer functions, a set of filter equations is developed. Finally, the approach is compared to an alternative time-domain based re-organisation of update equations, which is shown to deliver a similar result
Shooting hoops: globetrotting plasmids spreading more than just antimicrobial resistance genes across One Health
No full textOur study provides novel insights into the global nature of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) plasmids across the food chain. We provide compelling evidence of the globetrotting nature of AMR plasmids and the need for surveillance to sequence plasmids with a template of analyses for others to expand these data. The AMR plasmids analysed were detected in 63 countries and in samples from humans, animals and the environment. They contained a combination of known and novel AMR genes, metal resistance genes, virulence factors, phage and replicon types
Identification and Evaluation of Serum Protein Biomarkers That Differentiate Psoriatic Arthritis From Rheumatoid Arthritis
No full textObjective: To identify serum protein biomarkers that might distinguish patients with early inflammatory arthritis (IA) with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) from those with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and may be used to support appropriate early intervention.
Methods: The serum proteome of patients with PsA and patients with RA was interrogated using nano-liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (nano-LC-MS/MS) (n = 64 patients), an aptamer-based assay (SomaScan) targeting 1,129 proteins (n = 36 patients), and a multiplexed antibody assay (Luminex) for 48 proteins (n = 64 patients). Multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) assays were developed to evaluate the performance of putative markers using the discovery cohort (n = 60 patients) and subsequently an independent cohort of PsA and RA patients (n = 167).
Results: Multivariate machine learning analysis of the protein discovery data from the 3 platforms revealed that it was possible to differentiate PsA patients from RA patients with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.94 for nano-LC-MS/MS, 0.69 for bead-based immunoassay measurements, and 0.73 for aptamer-based analysis. Subsequently, in the separate verification and evaluation studies, random forest models revealed that a subset of proteins measured by MRM could differentiate PsA and RA patients with AUCs of 0.79 and 0.85, respectively.
Conclusion: We present a serum protein biomarker panel that can separate patients with early-onset IA with PsA from those with RA. With continued evaluation and refinement using additional and larger patient cohorts, including those with other arthropathies, we suggest that the panel identified here could contribute to improved clinical decision making
The challenge of neuropsychological assessment of visual/visuo-spatial memory: A critical, historical review, and lessons for the present and future
No full textA proliferation of tests exists for the assessment of auditory-verbal memory
processes. However, from a clinical practice perspective, the situation is less
clear when it comes to the ready availability of reliable and valid tests for the
evaluation of visual/visuo-spatial memory processes. While, at face value, there
appear to be a wide range of available tests of visual/visuo-spatial memory,
utilizing different types of materials and assessment strategies, a number
of criticisms have been, and arguably should be, leveled at the majority of
these tests. The criticisms that have been directed toward what are typically
considered to be visual/visuo-spatial memory tests, such as (1) the potential
for verbal mediation, (2) over-abstraction of stimuli, (3) the requirement of a
drawing response, and (4) the lack of sensitivity to unilateral brain lesions, mean
that, in reality, the number of readily available valid tests of visual/visuo-spatial
memory is, at best, limited. This article offers a critical, historical review on the
existing measures and resources for the neuropsychological assessment of
visual/visuo-spatial memory, and it showcases some examples of newer tests
that have aimed to overcome the challenges of assessing these important
aspects of memory. The article also identifies new trends and examples of
how technological advances such as virtual reality may add value to overcome
previous obstacles to assessment, thereby offering professionals more reliable,
accurate means to evaluate visual/visuo-spatial memory in clinical practice
The Ramblings of a Bockedy Man, Vol. 1: an autoethnographic review of disability in the context of reorienting a 'spoiled identity.'
No full textIn this thesis, I am adopting an interpretivist position in that I scrutinise the world around me,
my place in that world and the reality of this positioning. I, subjectively, examine this reality
and positioning. As an inquiry into the congenitally disabled male experience, my thesis seeks
to make honest and authentic contributory claims to knowledge by examining the interplay of
disability with Goffman’s studies regarding shame and ‘the spoiled identity.’ Approached
through an autoethnographic lens, I examine ‘identity’ and its tentative reorientation through
Freirean consciousness and Mezirow’s Theory of Transformative Learning.
I set this work is in the context of my experiences as a congenitally, disabled man taking part
in the 2002 Cutty Sark Tall Ship’s Race. It was a seminal episode in my life prior to which I
had come to recognise that I was falling significantly behind my peers in terms of educational
attainment, career opportunities and in my relationships. I was literally ‘all at sea.’
Then I joined the ship!
The sea proved emancipatory. It was while in the middle of the Bay of Biscay that I began to
consciously reflect on my life choices and the role disability played in the actualisation and
determination of those choices. And it was at sea that I started to see myself for the first time
in terms of capability rather than disability. Further, the exhilaration of witnessing up-close the
majesty and power of the ocean effected a renewed zest for life and a desire to acquire the
knowledge to best live that life. It was here that I started to question my foundational ‘frames
of reference,’ and presuppositions regarding identity, ideals, desires, and expectations. It was
aboard the Anne-Margaretha that I first began to realise that my own life experiences as a man
with a disability were atypical and in that, had a value. It was here that I began to open up to
tell my own story
Addressing Vaccine Inequity During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The TRIPS Intellectual Property Waiver Proposal & Beyond
No full textThis article examines global vaccine inequity during the COVID-19 pandemic. We critique intellectual property (IP) law under the 1994 WTO TRIPS Agreement, and specifically, the role that IP has played in enabling the inequities of production, distribution and pricing in the COVID-19 vaccine context. Given the failure of international response mechanisms, including COVAX and C-TAP, to address vaccine inequity, we argue the TRIPS waiver proposal should be viewed as offering a necessary and proportionate legal measure for clearing IP barriers that cannot be achieved by existing TRIPS flexibilities. Finally, we reflect on the waiver debate in the wider context of TRIPS and the need to boost global pandemic preparedness