NUI Maynooth Eprint Archive
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Social factors may mediate the relationship between subjective age-related hearing loss and episodic memory
No full textObjectives: To investigate whether the relationship between subjective age-related hearing loss (SARHL) and episodic memory functioning is mediated by measures of social functioning.
Methods: Using data from 8,163 adults over 50 that participated in the Irish Longitudinal Study of Ageing (three waves, each two years apart), we used a multiple mediation model within a Structural Equation Modelling framework to explore potential social mediators of the relationship between SARHL and episodic memory functioning, controlling for demographic and health covariates.
Results: Neither the direct effect of self-reported hearing difficulties on memory functioning (β = -.03), nor the total effect (β = .01), were significant. A small inconsistent indirect effect of self-reported hearing difficulties on episodic memory via weekly social activity engagement (β = -.002) was found.
Conclusions: Self-reported hearing difficulties may exert an indirect effect on episodic memory via weekly social activity engagement. The findings may have implications for identification of individuals at risk of memory decline in later life
Do publication activities of academic institutions benefit from formal collaborations with firms?
No full textWhile the existing literature has focused predominantly on how
firms can benefit from collaborations with academic institutions
such as universities and research institutions, this study explores
whether the proportion of (formal) collaborations with different
types of firm partners in strategic R&D alliances is associated with
publications originating in academic institutions. The empirical
analysis is based on a unique dataset of publications in pharmaceutical cancer research. The results suggest that the share of
collaborations with industry partners has an inverted u-shaped
relationship with the reputation of the journal in which an article
originating in an academic institution is published. The share of
alliances with pharmaceutical firms shows a similar inverted
u-shaped pattern, suggesting that research originating in academic
institutions can only benefit from alliances with pharmaceutical
firms through resource inflows up to a threshold
Developing inclusive and resilient systems: COVID-19 and assistive technology.
No full textAssistive technology is a critical component of maintaining
health, wellbeing, and the realization of rights for persons
with disabilities. Assistive technologies, and their associated
services, are also paramount to ensuring individuals with
functional limitations have access to important health and
social service information, particularly during a pandemic
where they may be at higher risk than the general population. Social isolation and physical distancing have further
marginalized many within this population.
We have an opportunity to learn from the COVID-19
response to develop more inclusive and resilient systems
that will serve people with disabilities more effectively in
the future. In this Current Issues piece, we present a starting point for discussion, based on our experiences working
to promote access to assistive technologies through inclusive and sustainable systems and policies
Songlines and Land Claims; Space and Place
No full textThe Songlines of the Indigenous peoples of the country now called Australia are an invisible web of pathways which trace the journeys of ancestral spirits as they created the earth, seas, creatures and plants. They contain information about the land, encoding the locations of resources across the landscape throughout the seasons, and mapping sacred spaces and notable places. In addition, Songlines have also been of central significance in claims concerning title to land, taken under both the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act, 1976 and the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) (Commonwealth Native Title Act, 1993). Songlines have been ‘translated’ and ‘interpreted’ by experts, including historians and anthropologists, for use in land claims under the common law and have been recognised as symbols of land ownership. This article provides a discussion of the Songlines, discusses their status in the legal system of Australia as evidence of title to land, and analyses the role of experts in decoding Songlines in legal proceedings
Description of Nonlinear Vortical Flows of Incompressible Fluid in Terms of a Quasi-Potential
No full textAs it was shown earlier, a wide class of nonlinear 3-dimensional (3D) fluid flows of
incompressible viscous fluid can be described by only one scalar function dubbed the quasi-potential.
This class of fluid flows is characterized by a three-component velocity field having a two-component
vorticity field. Both these fields may, in general, depend on all three spatial variables and time. In this
paper, the governing equations for the quasi-potential are derived and simple illustrative examples
of 3D flows in the Cartesian coordinates are presented. The generalisation of the developed approach
to the fluid flows in the cylindrical and spherical coordinate frames represents a nontrivial problem
that has not been solved yet. In this paper, this gap is filled and the concept of a quasi-potential to
the cylindrical and spherical coordinate frames is further developed. A few illustrative examples are
presented which can be of interest for practical applications
Gendering childhood(s) and engagement with schooling in rural Sierra Leone
No full textIn spite of widespread initiatives to improve access to education for girls, substantive concerns remain. While there is a rich and growing body of literature on gendered experiences of school in majority world contexts, absent is a focus on how this intersects with children’s out of school lives. Further, research with children in rural communities is limited, including those who are in the earlier years of their schooling. This paper addresses these gaps, focusing on gendered dynamics in the everyday lives of children in five rural communities in Northern Sierra Leone. Drawing on Bourdieu, it explores the dialectical interplay between gendered and generational structures, understood as the gendered habitus, in a wider context of structural poverty, uneven and fragile post-colonial restructuring and development. This sets the groundwork for children’s gendered dis/positioning, and ultimately capacity to engage with schooling
Monitoring and moderating extreme indoor temperatures in low-income urban communities
No full textClimate change presents significant threats to human health, especially for low-income urban
communities in the Global South. Despite numerous studies of heat stress, surprisingly little is
known about the temperatures actually encountered by people in their homes, or the benefits of
affordable adaptations. This paper examines indoor air temperature measurements gathered from
47 living rooms within eight low-income communities of Accra and Tamale, Ghana. Using
multiple temperature indices and a tiered analysis, we evaluate indoor temperature variations
linked to roof type, ceiling insulation, presence of fans, and tree shade, for different housing types
and locations. Our data reveal indoor temperatures in the range 22.4 ◦C to 45.9 ◦C for Accra, and
22.2 ◦C to 43.0 ◦C in Tamale. Using dummy regression analysis, we find that tree shade reduces the
number of very hot days (>40 ◦C) and nights (>30 ◦C) by about 12 and 15 d per year, respectively.
Building materials also strongly moderate indoor temperatures but in opposing ways: rooms with
traditional mud walls and thatch roofs are on average 4.5 ◦C cooler than rooms in concrete block
houses with uninsulated metal roofs during the day but are 1.5 ◦C warmer at night; rooms with
ceiling insulation are on average 6.9 ◦C cooler in the day but 1.4 ◦C warmer at night. We conclude
that sub-daily data are necessary for reporting extreme indoor temperatures, and that trade-offs
between minimum and maximum temperatures require interventions to be assessed carefully
before attempting to counter extreme heat inside homes
A fuzzy approach for assessment of smart socio-cultural attributes of a historic urban landscape: Case study of Alwar walled city in India
No full textSmartness is a vague concept with different meanings for different people. It is imperative to harness the latent potential of existing settlements for an inclusive smart urban development. The study aims to assess the socio-cultural attributes of an Indian historic urban landscape with a thriving residential culture. Since data collection of neighborhood-level urban communities is not feasible in India, a structured questionnaire was used to conduct household surveys. Such real-world phenomena have inherent imprecision and ambiguity associated with human judgments. Therefore, the survey items are assumed as fuzzy linguistic variables, and the raw dataset is transformed into triangular fuzzy numbers. Fuzzy arithmetic and weighted averaging operators are applied for the hierarchical evaluation of indicators and variables. A robust algorithm is used for the dimension reduction of a fuzzy coded dataset while dealing with subjective responses. The aggregated fuzzy scores show an overall better performance of traditional communities with respect to their socio-cultural attributes, such as a sense of safety and collective efficacy. The application of fuzzy logic in urban planning and allied behavioral studies can effectively and pragmatically deal with the inherent uncertainties in a humanistic system. Future researchers may explore fuzzy multi-criteria evaluation approaches for ordinal scale datasets
Repurposing without purpose? Early innovation responses to the COVID-19 crisis: Evidence from clinical trials
No full textThe novel coronavirus has created one of the biggest social and economic challenges in recent decades. Since a critical issue in overcoming a large-scale pandemic involves finding effective treatments for the disease, there is typically urgent pressure on the health-care sector to develop innovations to combat the pandemic. Recently, scholars have argued that repurposing – that is, reusing an existing innovation in a different context – allows for such rapid innovation responses and can reduce costs, as the groundwork has already been laid. In this paper, we compare these benefits with the considerable disadvantages associated with innovation repurposing, including lowered barriers to entry, which can lead to declining average quality and duplicate work. Using data on 2,456 COVID-19-related clinical trials initiated between December 2019 and July 2020, we find that merely one-third of the trials actually investigated drugs or vaccines, whereas the rest focused on diagnostics and crisis management issues. In the trials concerning drug testing, we find that drug repurposing is a predominant innovation strategy, but many trials tested the same (combination of) drugs. This indicates an inefficient use of resources and reductions in the average variety and novelty of clinical trials. Furthermore, the small percentage of biopharmaceutical firms involved in the search for COVID-19 treatments raises the question of whether firms may have insufficient incentives to redirect innovation efforts to respond to the pandemic. Our paper contributes to crisis management research, the nascent debate on COVID-19, and the emerging literature on innovation repurposing
International estimates of intended uptake and refusal of COVID-19 vaccines: A rapid systematic review and meta-analysis of large nationally representative samples
No full textBackground: Widespread uptake of COVID-19 vaccines will be essential to controlling the COVID-19 pandemic. Vaccines have been developed in unprecedented time and quantifying levels of hesitancy towards
vaccination among the general population is of importance.
Methods: Systematic review and meta-analysis of studies using large nationally representative samples
(n 1000) to examine the percentage of the population intending to vaccinate, unsure, or intending to
refuse a COVID-19 vaccine when available. Generic inverse meta-analysis and meta-regression were used
to pool estimates and examine time trends. PubMed, Scopus and pre-printer servers were searched from
January-November 2020. Registered on PROSPERO (CRD42020223132).
Findings: Twenty-eight nationally representative samples (n = 58,656) from 13 countries indicate that as
the pandemic has progressed, the percentage of people intending to vaccinate decreased and the percentage of people intending to refuse vaccination increased. Pooled data from surveys conducted during June-October suggest that 60% (95% CI: 49% to 69%) intend to vaccinate and 20% (95% CI: 13% to 29%) intend to refuse vaccination, although intentions vary substantially between samples and countries (I2 > 90%).
Being female, younger, of lower income or education level and belonging to an ethnic minority group
were consistently associated with being less likely to intend to vaccinate. Findings were consistent across
higher vs. lower quality studies.
Interpretation: Intentions to be vaccinated when a COVID-19 vaccine becomes available have been
declining across countries and there is an urgent need to address social inequalities in vaccine hesitancy
and promote widespread uptake of vaccines as they become available