NUI Maynooth Eprint Archive
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Ireland’s Climate Change Assessment 2023. Volume 3: Being prepared for Ireland's Future Climate. Summary for Policymakers.
No full textThis is the first Ireland’s Climate Change Assessment (ICCA) and is a major contribution to the
national dialogue and engagement on climate change. It tells us what is known about climate change and Ireland. It also provides key insights on gaps in our knowledge. The development of ICCA was modelled on the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the
Sixth Assessment Cycle, completed in 2023, with the use of and localisation of its information for Ireland.
Volume 3 covers the impacts we are likely to face and how we can prepare for these changes in an Irish context. It incorporates the latest projections from Ireland-specific climate modelling initiatives from ICHEC and Met Éireann, as well as impacts-modelling and social research into community resilience and wellbeing. The report covers a range of sectors, including biodiversity, critical infrastructure, health, and pays attention to the co-dependencies between them. It looks at a broad spectrum of research undertaken in Ireland on climate impacts, while also covering best practices in the IPCC's Sixth Assessment Report and the international literature
Climate change made the extreme 2-day rainfall event associated with flooding in Midleton, Ireland more likely and more intense
No full textOn the 17th and 18th October 2023, Storm Babet brought record rainfall amounts to the south
of Ireland leading to significant flooding, with the town of Midleton, County Cork severely
impacted. The intense 2-day rainfall fell on soils saturated by over 3 months of above average
rainfall.
The study, which involved ICARUS along with the World Weather Attribution (WWA) team based in Imperial College London and Met Eireann and was carried out for RTÉ, found that the extreme rainfall that occurred over two days had “an increased intensity of around 13% due to global warming
Why engaged critical urban research must place scholar policy activism at its core
No full textI welcome and endorse Loretta Lees’ call for a reconstituted critical urban studies tradition predicated
upon polyvocal, intersectoral and co-produced research, dialogues and dialoguing and concurrent and
compounding critical intelligences. In this short commentary, I make the case for placing scholar policy
activism at the heart of such a tradition. I explore how and why critical urban research has come to
view executive power as its arch nemesis. I argue that continued estrangement and jousting between
the architects of radical praxis and those of policy practice is indefensible. I scope the contours of a
new generation of policy engaged critical scholarship. We can no longer in good conscience fire missiles
from inside the ivory tower and outside of the governing tent in the hope that better cities will result. If we
are to be serious about ‘shaking up the city’, we will need to work with and on sources of power – to
immerse ourselves in the epistemic communities which enjoy dominion over policy registers – and recalibrate
the urban ‘partition of the sensible’
The Populist Hype (Chapter 44)
No full textGoing beyond an exclusive focus on populist politics, attention to the signifier ‘populism’ helps elucidate the character and effects of discourses about populism. The aim of this chapter is three-fold. First, we foreground the pivotal role played by politics, media, academia and their dynamic inter-relations in elucidating the character and effects of discourses about populism. Second, we argue that while this has so far been analysed productively in ideological terms, there are good reasons for supplementing these accounts by appealing to factors which go ‘beyond ideology’. Third, we approach the ubiquity of discourses about populism through the concept of ‘populist hype’, showing how its character and ideological effects are a product of processes that go beyond ‘mere’ ideological motivations
Iron Is Critical for Mucosal-Associated Invariant T Cell Metabolism and Effector Functions
No full textMucosal-Associated Invariant T (MAIT) cells are a population of innate T cells that play a critical role in host protection against
bacterial and viral pathogens. Upon activation, MAIT cells can rapidly respond via both TCR-dependent and -independent
mechanisms, resulting in robust cytokine production. The metabolic and nutritional requirements for optimal MAIT cell effector
responses are still emerging. Iron is an important micronutrient and is essential for cellular fitness, in particular cellular
metabolism. Iron is also critical for many pathogenic microbes, including those that activate MAIT cells. However, iron has not
been investigated with respect to MAIT cell metabolic or functional responses. In this study, we show that human MAIT cells
require exogenous iron, transported via CD71 for optimal metabolic activity in MAIT cells, including their production of ATP.
We demonstrate that restricting iron availability by either chelating environmental iron or blocking CD71 on MAIT cells results
in impaired cytokine production and proliferation. These data collectively highlight the importance of a CD71-iron axis for
human MAIT cell metabolism and functionality, an axis that may have implications in conditions where iron availability is
limited
Navigating School Attendance Challenges: Towards a Collaborative, Equitable and Unified Community Response in Limerick
No full textWhilst attending school is a positive and rewarding
experience for most children and young people,
concerns surrounding school attendance problems
are increasing both in Ireland and internationally. The
term School Attendance Problems (SAPs) is used
internationally to refer to difficulties labelled as school
refusal, and more recently termed school avoidance
or emotionally-based school avoidance; as well as
other types of school absenteeism, such as truancy,
school withdrawal or school exclusion (Heyne, Gren-Landell, Melvin & Gentle-Genitty, 2019). The reasons
for SAPs are complex and multifaceted and they
have been made more challenging by the COVID-19
pandemic (McDonald, Lester & Michelson, 2023). It is
increasingly clear that the world is changing, students’
needs are more diverse, and as a result, our approach
to school attendance and each student’s relationship
with education must be different too (Heyne, Gentle-Genitty, Melvin, et al., 2024)
Who uses connected health technologies after a cancer diagnosis? evidence from the US Health Information National Trends Survey
No full textPurpose As the number of people living with and beyond cancer increases, connected health technologies offer promise to enhance access to care and support, while reducing costs. However, uptake of connected health technologies may vary depending on sociodemographic and health-related variables. This study aimed to investigate demographic and health predictors of connected health technology use among people living with and beyond cancer. Methods Cross-sectional data from the US Health Information National Trends Survey Version 5 Cycle 4 (H5c4) was used. Regression analysis was used to examine associations between sociodemographic factors and the use of connected health technologies. The sample was restricted to individuals who self-reported a cancer diagnosis or history of cancer. Results In this cycle, 626 respondents self-reported a cancer diagnosis, with 41.1% using connected health technologies(health and wellness apps and/or wearable devices). Most were female (58.9%) and white (82.5%); 43.4% had graduated college or higher education. One third (33.6%) had a household income of $75,000 or more. Respondents who were younger, have higher education, were living as married, had higher incomes, had higher self-rated health and had higher health-related self-efficacy were significantly more likely to use connected health technologies. There were no significant associations between gender, race, stratum, time since diagnosis, history of anxiety or depression, and use of connected health technologies among people living with and beyond cancer. Conclusions Connected health technology use among people living with and beyond cancer is associated with sociodemographic factors. Future research should examine these demographic disparities as the use of connected health technologies in healthcare continues to gather momentum. Implications for cancer survivors The study underscores a disparity in connected heath technology usage among people living with and beyond cancer. There is a pressing need for research into adoption barriers and interventions to ensure equitable digital healthcare integration among this population, especially with the heightened adoption of technology postCOVID-19 pandemic
A Feasibility Study on the Introduction of a Community Court in Ireland Based on a comparative analysis of the Neighbourhood Justice Centre in Australia and the North Liverpool Community Justice Centre in England.
No full textThis doctoral thesis assesses the feasibility of introducing a community court in Ireland – based on a comparative analysis of the Neighbourhood Justice Centre (NJC) in Australia and the North Liverpool Community Justice Centre (NLCJC) in England – and provides evidence-based recommendations to inform policymakers of the approach that is needed to successfully implement this innovative court model.
Building on the two previous proposals to introduce a pilot Irish community court, semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders in Australia, England, and Ireland, and an online survey of Tallaght residents, this thesis concludes that a community court is feasible in Ireland, and that such an initiative, if adequately resourced and structured, would have the capacity to transform high-crime communities and improve the quality of life of residents. The thesis also argues that it is the optimal time for Irish policymakers to reconsider the community court model, but that in doing so, close attention must be paid to the key recommendations made within this thesis which serve as a guidebook for how to successfully implement a community court.
The best practice guidelines set out for the establishment of a community court in this thesis include: adequate resourcing, funding of dual staff members, built-in mechanisms for monitoring, evaluation based on relevant indicators of success, accessible placement in a high-crime area with established support services, a standalone and purposefully designed building in which the court is not the main focus, a strong commitment to the principle of community justice, intensive community consultation and continuous community involvement, creation of political champions and advocates at every level of the criminal justice system, a single judge with experience in therapeutic jurisprudence, and the on-site co-location of criminal justice agencies and support services. Furthermore, it is suggested that Tallaght is a prime location for a pilot community court as it is an area with a large population, high crime rates, a strong sense of community, and an existing foundation of established support services.
On the whole, the thesis demonstrates that an ill-conceived community court risks becoming a waste of vast resources, but that if these evidence-based recommendations are carefully followed, the community court model can have a truly transformative impact on high-crime communities
Carbon monoxide licensing of MSCs enhances their efficacy through autophagy-mediated miRNA mechanisms
No full textSepsis is a complex condition leading to multiple organ failure including the development of acute respiratory distress syndrome
(ARDS) secondary to infection. The mortality rate of sepsis is 40%–60%,1 indicating an
unmet need for the development of novel
therapeutics for this condition. Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are known for
their immunomodulatory and cytoprotective
effects; however, their efficacy as a cellular
therapy for sepsis has been disappointing,
with less than �50% of patients responding
to treatment. Thus, strategies to enhance
MSC efficacy to increase the response rates
in patients are eagerly awaited
Being before God: Fabro’s Thomistic approach to Kierkegaard’s Theological Anthropology
No full textIn this article, I uncover a point of contact between Cornelio Fabro’s philosophical theology and Søren Kierkegaard’s theological anthropology. I survey how Fabro’s metaphysical account of the human person as a created ‘synthesis’ between the infinite and finite, also invites a soteriological account of the call of Christian discipleship. My wider argument is that Fabro unearthed a structural feature in Kierkegaard’s theological approach to free creation from nothing, human subjectivity, suffering, and freedom that mapped on to Fabro’s philosophical theology of participation. In doing so, Fabro recovered the missing metaphysical and soteriological elements of Kierkegaard’s theological emphasis on the task and goal of selfhood beyond the atheistic existentialist stereotypes of God-denial, acosmic individualism, and self-annihilation. Often construed as polar opposites, I claim that Thomistic philosophy and Kierkegaard’s existential approach can be juxtaposed fruitfully as sharing an important point of departure with free creation from nothing. In short, Fabro’s creative link between Kierkegaard and Thomas Aquinas affords a unique theological development in post-Kantian approaches to the topic of existential freedom