NUI Maynooth Eprint Archive
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Graduate Students’ Behavioral Intention towards Social Entrepreneurship: Role of Social Vision, Innovativeness, Social Proactiveness, and Risk Taking
No full textIn prior studies, several researchers have adopted entrepreneurial orientation (EO) in
determining students’ intention toward entrepreneurship, although the application of EO is scant in
determining intention toward social entrepreneurship in existing literature. Hence, in consideration
of this research gap, the current study empirically examines the influence of the dimensions of social
entrepreneurial orientation (SEO): social vision, social proactiveness, innovativeness, and risk-taking
motive on graduate students’ entrepreneurial intention toward social entrepreneurship-based business start-up. An online-based survey method was used to collect data from a sample of 465 students
purposively who were studying at different universities in Bangladesh. A PLS-based SEM was
applied to analyze the data and examined the proposed relationships in the conceptual model. The
findings reveal that Graduate students’ social proactiveness, innovativeness, and risk-taking motive
significantly affect their social entrepreneurial intention. However, students’ social vision does not
have direct influence but has indirect influence on social entrepreneurial intention through their
social entrepreneurial attitudes. The research contributes to the body of knowledge in the existing
social entrepreneurship literature as well as provides practical implications for the policymakers,
practitioners, and stakeholders working toward flourishing of social-based entrepreneurship, venture,
and start-up
The OECD Global Corporate Tax Deal: What it is, What it will do, and Why it’s good
No full textThis piece considers the reforms proposed by the OECD to the global corporate tax landscape in 2021. The first pillar of the reforms concern taxing rights. It provides that corporations must pay tax in the region where the economic activity that generated the value took place. The second pillar proposes a global minimum effective corporate tax rate of 15%. This piece discusses these reforms and their implications for Ireland which has, since the early Noughties, applied a corporate tax rate of 12.5%. While Ireland's attractiveness as a location for foreign direct investment is not due solely to its corporate tax rate, the 12.5% rate is widely considered to be an important factor in Ireland's FDI strategy which the OECD proposals may now put at risk
Navigating Subordination: The Potential of Restorative Justice
No full textThe patriarchal foundation of society is built on the domination of others. Gender, sex, race, and age, all place individuals in a subordinated position within the social hierarchy. For women, this is a complex and precarious position to be in, as not only must they navigate the complicated intersections of gender, race, and age, but they must also contend that their sex renders them secondary to the domineering male figurehead of the state and its subsequent extensions. The aim of this thesis is to convey how the patriarchal structure of the retributive legal system opposes the justice needs of victim-survivors in the aftermath of sexual violence, proposing that alternative methods of justice delivery must be implemented to ensure that all in society have access to justice. To do this, the literature surrounding sexual violence, rape myths and their interaction with the criminal justice system will be explored. Following this, a review of the literature on the functioning of conventional adversarial legal systems and their treatment of victim-survivors of sexual violence is examined. Lastly, the use of restorative justice in cases of sexual violence is explored, in a bid to discern its potential to better meet the individualized needs of victim-survivors of sexual violence. If the condition for benefitting from retributive due process is adherence to the patriarchal and paternalistic conceptions of women and their role in society, then restorative justice can potentially offer them a means of navigating their subordination to achieve justice
The Recurring Conquest of Hearts and Minds: Reflections on Totalitarian Currents in Education
No full textAuthoritarian Precedents:
a European Historical Background
Paternalistic or authoritariam of education have been quite
common, even dominant, in the centuries of Western history, roughly from the 9th to the 18th century formal learning fell under the control of the Christian church. I should stress that “Christian Church” here does not mean the diverse communities of believers that characterised Christianity in the early centuries after the death of Christ
Tales from the Irish diaspora during COVID-19: Prompting a future research agenda for global mobility
No full textThe COVID-19 global pandemic raises fundamental questions about the future of global mobility. This paper considers publicly
posted blog posts from members of the Irish diaspora during the early months of the global pandemic in 2020. Using real-time
self-reporting blogs permitted an unobtrusive snapshot into the living experiences of members of the Irish diaspora during this
time. Content analysis was undertaken on a total of fifty-nine individual blogs, and key themes across the blogs are explored. The
primary theme of technology as both enabler and inhibiter is unpacked, in relation to global communication, work-life balance
and working from home – anywhere in the world. A research agenda pertaining to the future of global mobility is proposed
Next generation proteomics with drug sensitivity screening identifies sub-clones informing therapeutic and drug development strategies for multiple myeloma patients
No full textWith the introduction of novel therapeutic agents, survival in Multiple Myeloma (MM) has increased in recent years. However, drug-resistant clones inevitably arise and lead to disease progression and death. The current International Myeloma Working Group response criteria are broad and make it difficult to clearly designate resistant and responsive patients thereby hampering proteo-genomic analysis for informative biomarkers for sensitivity. In this proof-of-concept study we addressed these challenges by combining an ex-vivo drug sensitivity testing platform with state-of-the-art proteomics analysis. 35 CD138-purified MM samples were taken from patients with newly diagnosed or relapsed MM and exposed to therapeutic agents from five therapeutic drug classes including Bortezomib, Quizinostat, Lenalidomide, Navitoclax and PF-04691502. Comparative proteomic analysis using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry objectively determined the most and least sensitive patient groups. Using this approach several proteins of biological significance were identified in each drug class. In three of the five classes focal adhesion-related proteins predicted low sensitivity, suggesting that targeting this pathway could modulate cell adhesion mediated drug resistance. Using Receiver Operating Characteristic curve analysis, strong predictive power for the specificity and sensitivity of these potential biomarkers was identified. This approach has the potential to yield predictive theranostic protein panels that can inform therapeutic decision making
COVID-19 severity and obesity: are MAIT cells a factor?
No full textPeople with obesity have an increased risk of severe COVID-19: a meta-analysis by Popkin and colleagues1 found that the odds ratio of people with obesity being hospitalised with COVID-19 was 2·13 when compared with those without obesity, and mortality was 48% higher in patients with obesity than in those without. This increased risk of severe disease is
linked to higher rates of metabolic and cardiovascular
complications.2 Another major contributing factor is
the presence of substantial immune dysregulation and chronic systemic inflammation. Obesity is associated with increased levels of numerous inflammatory mediators, including interleukin (IL)-1, IL-6, IL-17, and tumour necrosis factor α.3 These cytokines are also implicated in the pathogenesis of COVID-19.4 In addition
to inflammation, obesity is associated with important
defects in immune cells tasked with host protection,
including natural killer cells and mucosal associated
invariant T (MAIT) cells.5,
Inflammatory processes in the liver: divergent roles in homeostasis and pathology
No full textThe hepatic immune system is designed to tolerate diverse harmless foreign moieties to maintain homeostasis in the healthy liver. Constant priming and regulation ensure that appropriate immune activation occurs when challenged by pathogens and tissue damage. Failure to accurately discriminate, regulate, or effectively resolve inflammation offsets this balance, jeopardizing overall tissue health resulting from an either overly tolerant or an overactive inflammatory response. Compelling scientific and clinical evidence links dysregulated hepatic immune and inflammatory responses upon sterile injury to several pathological conditions in the liver, particularly nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and ischemia-reperfusion injury. Murine and human studies have described interactions between diverse immune repertoires and nonhematopoietic cell populations in both physiological and pathological activities in the liver, although the molecular mechanisms driving these associations are not clearly understood. Here, we review the dynamic roles of inflammatory mediators in responses to sterile injury in the context of homeostasis and disease, the clinical implications of dysregulated hepatic immune activity and therapeutic developments to regulate liver-specific immunity
Reversible self-assembly of gold nanoparticles in response to external stimuli
No full textNoble metal nanoparticles are highly attractive, owing to their optical, physical, electrical and chemical
properties. Specifically, ease of surface modification, exceptional plasmonic and optical properties of gold
nanoparticles (Au NPs) have created increasing interest in the assembly process. Once assembly is
achieved successfully, the disassembly of the Au NPs is considered to be an exciting challenge. There
are different kinds of forces involved in the assembly and disassembly process of Au NPs with a great deal
involving the chemistry of surfactants. These forces can be externally triggered to achieve reversible
assembly and disassembly. Less effort has been devoted to collate the study and mechanism involved
behind environmentally or chemically triggered reversible assembly of Au NPs. Hence, the emphasis of
this review is to highlight a number of promising stimuli such as light, pH, temperature and magnetic
fields that can cause the reversible assembly of Au NPs. In addition, the surfactants utilized for assembly
and disassembly of Au NPs under external stimuli response are examined. Furthermore, this review gives
an account of the mechanism and chemistry of reversible assembly of Au NPs, taking into account the
latest published literature. Indeed, it covers many ligands, biomolecules and thiol-mediated surfactants
that can be linked to the surface of Au NPs and can also respond to external stimuli, realizing reversible
assembly. The emerging challenges and an outlook on future developments in this research area are also
discussed. The ultimate goal of this review is to encourage synthetic chemists to use ligand functionalize
An Electrochemical Evaluation of Novel Ferrocene Derivatives for Glutamate and Liver Biomarker Biosensing
No full textHere, we present an evaluation of two new monosubstituted ferrocene (Fc) derivatives, 3- (1H-pyrrol-1-yl)propanamidoferrocene and 1-hydroxy-2-[2-(thiophen-3-yl)-ethylamino]ethylferrocene, as glutamate oxidase mediators, together with their preparation and characterisation. Taking into consideration the influence of the electronic effects of substituents on the redox potentials of the
Fc species, two candidates with pyrrole or thiophene moieties were proposed for investigation. Film studies involved potential sweeping in the presence of pyrrole or 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene monomers resulting in stable electroactive films with % signal loss upon cycling ranging from 1 to 7.82% and surface coverage (Γ) 0.47–1.15 × 10−9 mol/cm2 for films formed under optimal conditions.
Construction of a glutamate oxidase modified electrode resulted in second-generation biosensing with the aid of both cyclic voltammetry and hydrodynamic amperometry, resulting in glutamate sensitivity of 0.86–1.28 µA/mM and Km (app) values over the range 3.67–5.01 mM. A follow-up
enzyme assay for liver biomarker γ-glutamyl transpeptidase realised unmediated and mediated measurement establishing reaction and incubation time investigations and a realising response over <100 U/L γ-glutamyl transpeptidase with a sensitivity of 5 nA/UL−