NUI Maynooth Eprint Archive
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From Initiation to Implementation: A Case Study of the Professional Development of Teachers in Ireland.
No full textTeaching is viewed as a complex activity and teachers are required to make a commitment to improving their instructional practices by engaging in professional development. Researchers acknowledge teacher professional development is not confined to the workshop but involves the transfer of learning from the workshop to the classroom. The purpose of this study is to explore the experiences and perspectives of fifteen teachers from five schools engaged in a professional development programme. Professional development is contextually bound in school culture and context and has a direct link for teachers’ initiation and implementation of new innovations. This frames the broader context of this study.
A multi-site case study used five phases of data collection and analyses, consisting of the administration of a quantitative questionnaire followed by in-depth, qualitative, semi-structured interviews to gain a better understanding of this complex area of educational change. The findings of this study outline the personal experiences of teachers changing their practices. They include the concerns and emotions teachers experience during educational change, the role of relationships in peer teams and the influence of teacher agency. Two areas of school culture emerged from this study: (a) the role of the school leader and (b) the collaborative cultures in a school
The Cyborg Philharmonic: Synchronizing interactive musical performances between humans and machines
No full textMusic offers a uniquely abstract way for the expression of human emotions and moods, wherein melodic harmony is achieved through a succinct blend of pitch, rhythm, tempo,
texture, and other sonic qualities. The emerging field of “Robotic Musicianship” focuses on developing machine intelligence, in terms of algorithms and cognitive models, to capture the underlying principles of musical perception, composition, and performance. The capability of
new-generation robots to manifest music in a human-like artistically expressive manner lies at the intersection of engineering, computers, music, and psychology; promising to offer new forms of creativity, sharing, and interpreting musical impulses. This manuscript explores how real-time collaborations between humans and machines might be achieved by the integration of technological and mathematical models from Synchronization and Learning, with precise configuration for the seamless generation of melody in tandem, towards the vision of human–robot symphonic orchestra. To explicitly capture the key ingredients of a good symphony—synchronization and anticipation—this work discusses a possible approach based on the joint strategy of: (i) Mapping— wherein mathematical models for oscillator
coupling like Kuramoto could be used for establishing and maintaining synchronization, and (ii) Modelling—employing modern deep learning predictive models like Neural Network
architectures to anticipate (or predict) future state changes in the sequence of music generation and pre-empt transitions in the coupled oscillator sequence. It is hoped that this discussion will foster new insights and research for better “real-time synchronized human computer collaborative interfaces and interactions
Lessons Learned: The experiences of teachers in Ireland during the 2020 pandemic.
No full textLots of research has been published about the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on education. However, little is known about the challenges that teachers in Ireland faced during the first lockdown and after the schools reopened, which is what the current report aimed to address. A total of 404 teachers from primary and post-primary schools in Ireland were surveyed six months after the first national lockdown. The results indicated that teachers have had different challenges at various stage of working during the pandemic. Also, despite experiencing more stress and lower levels of wellbeing, 4 out of 5 teachers experienced a positive transformation, which may last post-Covid. The report provides details of the findings, as well as implications for educational practice in Ireland
Saliva-omics in plasma cell disorders- Proof of concept and potential as a non-invasive tool for monitoring disease burden
No full textMultiple Myeloma (MM), the second most common lymphoid cancer worldwide, is characterised by the uninhibited proliferation of terminally differentiated Blymphocytes. Leading to The diagnosis typically requires the presence of a monoclonal protein (M protein) and the demonstration of CRAB features (hypercalcemia, renal impairment, anaemia and bone lesions). MM is considered incurable as, due to serial clonal evolution, the vast majority of patients succumb to treatment refractory disease. MGUS (Monoclonal Gammopathy of Unknown Uncertain Significance) is the pre-malignant form of MM and, although 93% of MM patients exhibit M protein production associated with MGUS before diagnosis, little is known about the switch from pre-malignant to malignant disease. To explore this disease transition further, LC-MS/MS analysis was carried out to identify potential salivary biomarkers to monitor disease burden. FABP5 was detected in saliva as having a significant increase in abundance when MGUS was compared to symptomatic MM. The levels of FABP5 decreased after treatment indicating correlation with tumour burden. This finding was validated using western blot analysis and ELISA analysis.
Significance: The field of biomarker discovery has focused largely on serum as a biofluid. Saliva is a readily available biofluid that, as a biomarker resource, has been
relatively un-explored. The identification of changes in saliva indicating disease progression underlines the utility of saliva as a non-invasive source of informative
biomarkers reflecting disease burden and progression
Mass Spectrometric Profiling of Extraocular Muscle and Proteomic Adaptations in the mdx-4cv Model of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
No full textExtraocular muscles (EOMs) represent a specialized type of contractile tissue with unique cellular, physiological, and biochemical properties. In Duchenne muscular dystrophy, EOMs stay functionally unaffected in the course of disease progression. Therefore, it was of interest to determine
their proteomic profile in dystrophinopathy. The proteomic survey of wild type mice and the dystrophic mdx-4cv model revealed a broad spectrum of sarcomere-associated proteoforms, including components of the thick filament, thin filament, M-band and Z-disk, as well as a variety of muscle-specific markers. Interestingly, the mass spectrometric analysis revealed unusual expression levels of
contractile proteins, especially isoforms of myosin heavy chain. As compared to diaphragm muscle, both proteomics and immunoblotting established isoform MyHC14 as a new potential marker in wild type EOMs, in addition to the previously identified isoforms MyHC13 and MyHC15. Comparative
proteomics was employed to establish alterations in the protein expression profile between normal EOMs and dystrophin-lacking EOMs. The analysis of mdx-4cv EOMs identified elevated levels of glycolytic enzymes and molecular chaperones, as well as decreases in mitochondrial enzymes. These findings suggest a process of adaptation in dystrophin-deficient EOMs via a bioenergetic shift to more
glycolytic metabolism, as well as an efficient cellular stress response in EOMs in dystrophinopathy
Innate Immune Responses of Galleria mellonella to Mycobacterium bovis BCG Challenge Identified Using Proteomic and Molecular Approaches
No full textThe larvae of the insect Galleria mellonella, have recently been established as a non-mammalian infection model for the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC). To gain
further insight into the potential of this model, we applied proteomic (label-free quantification) and transcriptomic (gene expression) approaches to characterise the innate immune response of G. mellonella to infection with Mycobacterium bovis BCG lux over a 168 h time course. Proteomic analysis of the haemolymph from infected larvae
revealed distinct changes in the proteome at all time points (4, 48, 168 h). Reverse transcriptase quantitative PCR confirmed induction of five genes (gloverin, cecropin, IMPI,
hemolin, and Hdd11), which encoded proteins found to be differentially abundant from the proteomic analysis. However, the trend between gene expression and protein abundance were largely inconsistent (20%). Overall, the data are in agreement with previous phenotypic observations such as haemocyte internalization of mycobacterial bacilli
(hemolin/b-actin), formation of granuloma-like structures (Hdd11), and melanization (phenoloxidase activating enzyme 3 and serpins). Furthermore, similarities in immune
expression in G. mellonella, mouse, zebrafish and in vitro cell-line models of tuberculosis infection were also identified for the mechanism of phagocytosis (b-actin). Cecropins (antimicrobial peptides), which share the same a-helical motif as a highly potent peptide expressed in humans (h-CAP-18), were induced in G. mellonella in response to infection, giving insight into a potential starting point for novel antimycobacterial agents. We believe that these novel insights into the innate immune response further contribute to the validation of this cost-effective and ethically acceptable insect model to study members
of the MTBC
Non-Linear Modeling of a Vibro-Impact Wave Energy Converter
No full textThis article proposes a non-linear vibro-impact mechanism, integrated inside a semi-submerged cylindrical buoy to form a self-contained and self-referenced vibro-impact wave energy converter (VIWEC), for performance enhancement. A non-linear mathematical model of the VIWEC is derived, considering linear wave-buoy interaction and non-linear vibro-impact mechanics. Numerical simulations are conducted to investigate the influence of the vibro-impact mechanism on the VIWEC's dynamics and performance. Numerical results conclude that the VIWEC is characterised by a band-pass frequency response and inherently decoupled from ocean waves of low frequencies, indicating high survivability under extreme sea states. The vibro-impact mechanism can also broaden the VIWEC's power capture bandwidth and limit the VIWEC's motion within its physical constraint. On the other hand, the VIWEC's dynamics are sensitive to design parameters, and an improper design may lead to rich and complex non-linear dynamics of the VIWEC, e.g. chaos and multi-stability. The proposed non-linear model can provide a platform for design optimisation and control development of the VIWEC
2,2,5,5-Tetramethyloxolane (TMO) as a Solvent for Buchwald–Hartwig Aminations
No full textBuchwald–Hartwig amination is one of the most important methods for the synthesis of N-arylamines and is widely employed for the synthesis of potential pharmaceuticals, natural products, and other fine chemicals. The reaction usually uses a Pd(0) catalyst such as Pd(dba)2 and (±)-BINAP in the presence of a base, and toluene is the most commonly used solvent. However, there are significant safety, toxicological, and environmental hazards associated with the use of toluene. Herein, we demonstrate the successful application of 2,2,5,5-tetramethyloxolane (TMO), a solvent with a similar property profile to toluene, for Buchwald–Hartwig amination reactions for coupling a wide range of primary and secondary amines with aryl bromides. When NaOt-Bu was used as the base, similar yields were obtained in toluene and TMO. In contrast, using Cs2CO3, TMO outperformed toluene significantly for electron-deficient aryl bromides that could be susceptible to nucleophilic attack. To showcase the use of TMO as a solvent for Buchwald–Hartwig aminations, the synthesis of a key intermediate in the route to smoothened (SMO) receptor antagonist drug candidate SEN826 was successfully accomplished in TMO. Improved metrics and reduction in residual palladium in the isolated amines demonstrate further benefits in the substitution of toluene with TMO in Buchwald–Hartwig aminations
Historical droughts in Southeast Australia recorded in a New South Wales stalagmite
No full textThe Murray Darling Basin contains 40% of Australia’s farms and is subject to multi-year droughts that put severe pressure on southeast Australia’s freshwater resources. Yet the long-term frequency, timing and potential severity of these droughts is unknown, as there are few high-resolution paleoclimate records from the basin that extend past the instrumental era. In this study, we investigate the potential of stalagmites from Careys Cave, Wee Jasper, in the Murray-Darling Basin to record past droughts. We use a multiproxy approach of stalagmite stable isotopes, trace element data, and climate reanalysis. We show that (a) stalagmite δ18O at this site likely records either local or regional precipitation amount and (b) stalagmite δ18O shows reasonable coherence with decadal-scale wet and dry changes in regional rainfall over the last 150 years, including the Federation Drought (1895–1902). Therefore, stalagmites from Wee Jasper can be used to draw regional inferences about past rainfall and have potential to extend the record of past droughts in the Murray Darling Basin beyond the limits of historical data. Extracting such a record will enable a better understanding of the causes of multi-year droughts in the region and consequently better planning, mitigation, and resilience in the basin
Troubling national commemoration in Dublin, London and Liverpool: ANU Production and CoisCéim Dance Theatre’s These Rooms
No full textThe cultural production These Rooms challenged traditional nationalistic commemorations of war and rebellion during the ‘Decade of the Centenaries’. Created by the Dublin-based ANU Productions and CoisCéim Dance Theatre, and funded by the Irish and UK governments, this series of theatre/dance performances, installations and public outreach projects in unconventional urban venues ran from 2016 to 2019 in Dublin, London and Liverpool, cities with mixed British and Irish populations. Fragmentary, embodied stories about the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin communicated the perspectives of working-class Irish civilian women and confused young British soldiers through intimate domestic encounters that productively disrupted heroic narratives. Audiences were instead invited to create temporary communities of encounter and ‘unlearn’ dominant concepts supporting colonial, imperial and national spaces–times. As a critical agonistic artistic intervention, These Rooms offered more inclusive ‘potential histories’ and forms of belonging across political, social and temporal borders during the geopolitically uncertain times associated with Brexit