NUI Maynooth Eprint Archive
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From Toxic Industries to Green Extractivism: Rural Environmental Struggles, Multinational Corporations and Ireland’s Postcolonial Ecological Regime
No full textIn this article, we analyse the political ecology of Ireland’s industrial landscape in the current era
of digital capitalism, which has been posited as the primary engine of an oncoming “green” eco-modernisation via smart technologies. As our research has found over the past several years (see
Bresnihan and Brodie 2021a, 2021b, 2023), far from representing benevolent contributors to the
planetary transition away from fossil fuels, digital corporations are poised to become primary
beneficiaries by funnelling accumulation through green transition strategies into and through their
proprietary infrastructures. In what follows, we unravel the ways in which this does not represent
a necessarily new development in Ireland, but rather a historical and continuous transition within
Irish environmental governance that facilitates the accumulation strategies of multinational
companies via a model of foreign direct investment (FDI)-led state development. In so doing, the
Irish state not only participates in these activities as they implicate Irish territory within these global
extractive regimes, it also enrols Irish land, labour and infrastructure into them in geographically
uneven ways. But, at the same time, there have been a multitude of historical and contemporary
examples of civil society objection and outright popular resistance to this development model,
representing points of friction at which environmental contradictions are negotiated and contested
across local communities and the state in often ambivalent way
The Irish drought impacts database: A 287‐year database of drought impacts derived from newspaper archives
No full textUnderstanding of past droughts has been mostly shaped by meteorological data, with relatively less known about the human aspects of droughts, their socio‐economic impacts, as well as choices people make in response to droughts in different environmental and socio‐political contexts. The lack of data that systematically record and categorize drought impacts is an important reason for this disparity. In this paper, we present an Irish drought impacts database (IDID) containing 6094 newspaper reports and 11,351 individual impact records for the island of Ireland, covering the period 1733–2019. Relevant articles were identified through systematic searching of the Irish Newspaper Archives, and recorded impacts were categorized using a modified version of the classification scheme employed by the European drought impact inventory (EDII). Drawing on the wealth and diversity of content provided by the newspapers, the IDID database provides information on the documented temporal and geographical extent of drought events, their socio‐economic and political contexts, their consequences, mitigation strategies employed and their change over time. The IDID also facilitates analysis of long‐term patterns in drought incidence, individual impact categories, as well as detailed insight into the impacts of individual drought events over nearly three centuries of Ireland's history. In addition, by allowing an examination of the coherence between meteorological records and identified impacts, it advances our understanding of the influences that contemporary economic, political, environmental and societal events had on the human experience, perception and impact of droughts. This new open‐access database, therefore, provides opportunities for improving understanding of drought vulnerability and is an important step in developing greater capacity to cope with and respond to future droughts on the island of Ireland
Signs and Wonders: Exploring Aspects of Ritual and Narrative Representations of Magic in Medieval Ireland
No full textThis thesis explores literary narratives, legal frameworks, medical practices, and ritual performances in order to shed light on the complex connections between ritual forms of magic, public perception, and the authorisation granted by the public for the performance of magical rituals. The research is presented through six chapters, each of which examines a magical practice through select texts.
Chapter 1 lays out the keywords and phrases that will be used throughout the rest of the thesis, and defines them in such a way that the work that follows is easier to read. This includes defining such terms as ‘magic’ itself, as well as ‘charm’, ‘love magic’, and ‘curse’ so that they are reduced to neutral terms, with modern or cultural biases removed from them. Chapter 2, then, examines some representations of miracles and magic in hagiographical texts by looking at events in the Tripartite Life of St Patrick through the lens of similar events in the life of Moses. This is set alongside a discussion of miracles in the Lives of St Brigit, with particular regard to how they reflect social and gender norms of the period, while also reflecting charming practices that will be seen in Chapter 3.
Chapter 3 turns to the genre of medical texts to explore the concept of miraculous healing. Specific examples are taken from a previously unpublished collection of blood-staunching remedies from Dublin, National Library of Ireland MS G11; a full transcription and translation of these remedies is provided in the Appendix. Chapter 4 explores the practice of satire as imprecation in early Ireland. The codes and procedures relating to the filid and the practice of satire are discussed, as well as the clerical form of ritual cursing, which explicitly endorsed and permitted the practice of this style of ‘word-magic’ in society.
Chapter 5 draws on evidence from select texts to explore how magical practices might be directed at inducing love or affection in another individual. This material is set against the wider background of representations of magic in Carolingian writings on the
divorce of King Lothar and Queen Theutberga. Chapter 6, then, draws on ritual theory to consider the possible psychological and emotional aspects of these performances on their audiences
Development and Characterisation of a Biosensor for the Simultaneous Measurement of Acetylcholine and Choline in the Mammalian Brain
No full textNervous system disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease, are believed to effect approximately one in every six people. With most considered incurable, current treatment options are limited to addressing symptoms of the disease rather than acting as a cure. This will likely remain the case until the brain is better understood. An improved knowledge will facilitate the identification of new drug targets and development of current diagnostic methods leading to an overall better quality of life for patients, many of whom lose their ability to move or to speak and, often, their life to their disease.
Many of these disorders have been linked to abnormal concentration changes in specific analytes in the neurochemical environment and some of these changes can be detected, and monitored, electrochemically via the implantation of specific microelectrodes. These devices detect, qualitatively and quantitatively, an analyte of interest as a current change, a consequence of its oxidation or reduction at the surface of the microelectrode. The overall aim of this work was to develop and characterise, in-vitro and in-vivo, an analytical microelectrochemical biosensor capable of detecting real-time changes in the neurotransmitter acetylcholine (ACh) and its precursor/metabolite choline (Ch). Dysregulations within the mammalian cholinergic system has been linked to many diseased states including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and schizophrenia. The presented device makes use of two enzymes, acetylcholinesterase and choline oxidase, and indirectly monitors our analytes of interest (ACh and Ch) by detecting analyte derived enzymatically generated hydrogen peroxide at the surface of a platinum microelectrode. In-vivo, this biosensor is paired with a Ch specific biosensor allowing for a distinction between the two analytes and a better understanding of their individual functions within the cholinergic system. The presented bienzyme biosensor possesses a high sensitivity to both analytes with low oxygen dependence and good selectivity over potential endogenous interferents. ACh detection was shown to withstand fluctuations in expected parameters within the physiological environment (biocompatibility, pH, temperature) and possesses excellent stability, response time and limit of detections. Novel in-vivo experiments carried out in the striatum of freely-moving Wistar rats indicate a reliable ability to monitor distinct real-time changes in both ACh and Ch, as well as the real-time action of acetylcholinesterase and its inhibitors. Continued use of this combined device should facilitate an overall better understanding of the cholinergic system in both healthy and diseased states
‘Overcoming the fear’: the story of the Irish language in a programme promoting diversity in the primary teaching profession
No full textMaynooth University’s Level 6 Think About Teaching Foundation Certificate (Foundation Cert) is a central part of a widening participation project (Turn to Teaching) which provides preparation for, and pathways into, initial teacher education (ITE). A key dimension of the Foundation Cert has been the development of an alternative Irish language curriculum which provides support and equivalence to Leaving Certificate Irish for entry to primary ITE.
Drawing on the experiences of students and staff gleaned from open ended focus groups and biographical interviews, we, as members of a community of Higher Education staff, offer, as part of the project's cycle of evaluative research, a reflexive account and analysis on the diverse outcomes, issues and aspirations emerging from the on-going development of this innovative Irish language curriculum. We also draw on the project’s quantitative data on recruitment and retention to highlight the most visible signs of the Irish language programme’s efficacy.
It is clear from both qualitative and quantitative data that the programme’s communicative and critically reflexive approach to Irish language teaching and learning plays a pivotal role in transforming many students’ relationships with the language
Women's television histories: Locating women's role in emerging and developing international television.
No full textThis special issue aims to take steps towards the internationalisation of scholarship on women’s television by drawing together articles on different national contexts of television and detailing the experiences of women in various national and historical television ecologies and economies. This is, of course, merely a step, since no one issue can attend to the breadth of women’s experiences in the many national television organisations and roles. Scholarship in anglophone, Global North and Western countries has been enabled because of the confluence of various factors including: fairly stable employment prospects for academics comparable, for example, to Global South scholars; the availability of funding for such scholars to undertake travel to conferences and network with scholars; the availability of research on the topic of women’s media histories because it is in English language and universities have the library resources. Therefore, the history of women’s work in these national contexts has begun to be told but there is a pressing need for attention to, and recognition of, scholarship beyond the limited context of anglophone territories
The Erotic Webcam Industry in Brazil: Moral Disputes and Controversies A Iindústria Erótica de Webcam no Brasil: Disputas E Contenciosos Morais
No full textResumo
Este artigo discute os contenciosos morais presentes na indústria erótica de webcam brasileira, que visam distinguir a prática de camming da prostituição e da venda de sexo. Tais disputas buscam movimentar o camming dentro da divisão hierárquica do trabalho sexual, posicionando-o como um exemplo positivo de serviço erótico. O argumento se embasa nos estudos em dirty works , que diagnosticam táticas de trabalhadores para normalizarem e administrarem as máculas morais de ocupações estigmatizadas. Os resultados veem de etnografia digital (2016-2020) nas duas plataformas de camming nacionais (Câmera Hot e Câmera Privê) e de 15 entrevistas em profundidade com trabalhadoras mulheres cisgênero. Conclui-se que as performers desenvolvem três estratégias para tentar normalizar o camming: criar um léxico para a atividade, distinguir sexo de erotismo virtual e sinalizar as singularidades do camming . Tais estratégias estão fundamentadas em convenções de gênero e sexualidade, que são acionadas como balizas para refletir sobre o valor do camming .
Abstract
This paper addresses the moral controversies of the Brazilian erotic webcam industry, which aim to distinguish the camming practice from prostitution and sex sale. Such disputes seek to move camming within the hierarchical division of sex labour, positioning it as a positive example of erotic service. The argument is based on dirty works scholarship, which diagnoses workers’ tactics to normalise and manage the moral taints of stigmatised occupations. The results come from digital ethnography (2016-2020) developed on the two national camming platforms (Camera Hot and Camera Prive) and 15 in-depth interviews with cisgender women workers. The study concludes that performers develop three strategies in order to normalise camming: they create a lexicon for the activity, they distinguish sex from virtual eroticism, and they substantiate camming particularities. Such strategies rely on gender and sexuality conventions, which are summoned as guideposts to reflect on camming value
Hamstring Strain Injury Risk Factors in Australian Football Change over the Course of the Season
No full textThis study aimed to determine which factors were most predictive of hamstring strain injury (HSI) during different stages of the competition in professional Australian Football.
Methods
Across two competitive seasons, eccentric knee flexor strength and biceps femoris long head architecture of 311 Australian Football players (455 player seasons) were assessed at the start and end of preseason and in the middle of the competitive season. Details of any prospective HSI were collated by medical staff of participating teams. Multiple logistic regression models were built to identify important risk factors for HSI at the different time points across the season.
Results
There were 16, 33, and 21 new HSIs reported in preseason, early in-season, and late in-season, respectively, across two competitive seasons. Multivariate logistic regression and recursive feature selection revealed that risk factors were different for preseason, early in-season, and late in-season HSIs. A combination of previous HSI, age, height, and muscle thickness were most associated with preseason injuries (median area under the curve [AUC], 0.83). Pennation angle and fascicle length had the strongest association with early in-season injuries (median AUC, 0.86). None of the input variables were associated with late in-season injuries (median AUC, 0.46). The identification of early in-season HSI and late in-season HSI was not improved by the magnitude of change of data across preseason (median AUC, 0.67).
Conclusions
Risk factors associated with prospective HSI were different across the season in Australian Rules Football, with nonmodifiable factors (previous HSI, age, and height) mostly associated with preseason injuries. Early in-season HSI were associated with modifiable factors, notably biceps femoris long head architectural measures. The prediction of in-season HSI was not improved by assessing the magnitude of change in data across preseason
The continuous flow synthesis of azos
No full textAzo compounds find use in many areas of science, displaying crucial properties for important applications as photoconductive organic pigments, fluorescent quenchers, paints, cosmetics, inks, and in the large and valuable dye industry. Due to the unstable intermediates, and the exothermic and fast reactions used in their synthesis, high value azo compounds are excellent candidates for continuous flow manufacturing. This comprehensive review covers the progress made to date on developing continuous flow systems for azo synthesis and reflects on the main challenges still to be addressed, including scale up, conversion, product purity, and environmental impact. The further development of integrated continuous flow processes has the potential to help tackle these challenges and deliver improved methods for azo compound generation
How the Principle of Humanity in International Humanitarian Law can inform Weapons Regulation in Outer Space
No full textActivity in Outer Space has increased significantly in recent times, with new Space
actors and new technologies emerging. This has resulted in Outer Space becoming a
crowded and tense environment in which the possibility of the use of weapons grows
ever nearer. The consequences of such weapons use in Outer Space would be felt by
humankind as a whole.
The law that governs the conduct of armed conflicts, and the use of weapons during
these periods of conflict, is International Humanitarian Law (IHL). However, weapons
regulation in IHL struggles to keep pace with the development of weapons technologies
which can be used in Outer Space. In addition, International Space Law (ISL) does not
prohibit the use of all weapons in Outer Space. This research addresses this gap in the
ISL and IHL frameworks with regards to the regulation of weapons use in Outer Space.
IHL was founded on the basis of four principles – distinction, military necessity and
proportionality, all of which stem from the central principle of humanity. It was in the
Martens Clause of the 1899 Hague Convention II that this central principle of humanity
was referenced as providing guidance and applying in the absence of express legislation.
Therefore, the principle of humanity is currently addressing this gap by providing a
minimum standard of protection based on the considerations of what is in the interests
of humanity with regards to the regulation of the use of weapons in Outer Space.
This research forms recommendations for express regulation, from the perspective of
this central principle of humanity, as it is premised that this approach will inform
regulation with a view to protecting humankind from the consequences of the use of
weapons in Outer Space