NUI Maynooth Eprint Archive
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Modified toric code models with flux attachment from Hopf algebra gauge theory
No full textKitaev’s toric code is constructed using a finite gauge group from gauge theory.
Such gauge theories can be generalized with the gauge group generalized to any finitedimensional semisimple Hopf algebra. This also leads to generalizations of the toric code.
Here we consider the simple case where the gauge group is unchanged but furnished with a
non-trivial quasitriangular structure (R-matrix), which modifies the construction of the gauge
theory. This leads to some interesting phenomena; for example, the space of functions on
the group becomes a non-commutative algebra. We also obtain simple Hamiltonian models
generalizing the toric code, which are of the same overall topological type as the toric code,
except that the various species of particles created by string operators in the model are
permuted in a way that depends on the R-matrix. In the case of ZN gauge theory, we find
that the introduction of a non-trivial R-matrix amounts to flux attachment
Heart and Lungs: Education and Agency in the context of a Pandemic. An exploration of the experiences of Respiratory Clinical Nurse Specialists and Advanced Nurse Practitioners.
No full textThis thesis explores how respiratory nursing expanded its scope of practice at a professional level and at an individual practitioner level in recent years. The introduction of the respiratory Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNSs) and Advanced Nursing Practitioners (ANPs) roles are among the most significant changes in recent years. The timing of this study is significant as the first wave of Covid-19 had just occurred as this research was conducted. Hence, it provides insight into the experiences of a group of respiratory nurse specialists in Ireland as they responded to the first wave of a global pandemic. Respiratory CNS/ANPs are responsible for educating their colleagues and patients under their scope of practice, significantly expanding their role to include activities which were formerly the remit of medical colleagues. While the expanded role benefits patients and consultants, it also raises issues concerning professional identity formation and education. This research explores how respiratory nurse specialists (CNS/ANP) enhance practice development, generate knowledge-based practice, and contribute to learning, education, and research in the sector.
This qualitative study consists of qualitative online interviews with 15 respiratory CNSs/ANPs about their experiences as respiratory nurses during the first wave of Covid-19. The study is based on a hermeneutic phenomenological approach.
Findings reveal that the respiratory CNS/ANP role enhances and complements nursing practice on an individual and sectoral level, enabling a more agentic practitioner professional identity and education for colleagues and patients. The expanded role raises key issues for professionalism and multidisciplinary teamwork in nursing and nurse education, the positioning of advanced practitioner roles in changing healthcare hierarchies, and the nature of education and knowledge formation in practitioner-based professions. These findings can inform those with responsibility for regulating respiratory CNS/ANP nursing practice and those
responsible for education and research in the nurse context, especially in the context of global changes due to Covid-19
Skills narratives amongst media degree graduates and students: Discourses of hard and soft skills in education-to-work journeys
No full textThis article focuses on media students and graduates’ subjective understanding and expression of skills acquired while undertaking an undergraduate media studies degree programme. It reports on a single undergraduate media studies programme in Ireland and draws from two questionnaires: a 2019 questionnaire of graduates who reflected on the skills developed during their education as well as their employability; and, following a subsequent skills development intervention in the media programme, a 2021 questionnaire of final-year students who undertook a newly introduced module focusing on media and non-media work, skills development and employment in Ireland. This latter questionnaire had the dual purpose of assessing whether students had benefited from this new module and, more generally, of understanding students’ perceptions of their skills and employability. This study was concerned to ascertain whether the provision of a new module that reflected on skills development through a media programme aided students’ understanding of how their knowledge and skills related to employability. Ultimately, the study found that the module was successful in developing students’ understanding of the alignment between transversal skills and employment. However, despite the intervention, students still perceived employability as related mainly to practical skills and supplemental career development activities
Apoptotic MSCs, COX2/PGE2 and clinical efficacy in Crohn fistula
No full textThe clinical application of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) has been approved for use in pediatric graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) and perianal fistulizing Crohn disease. MSCs have also been investigated in an array of other inflammatory disease indications. Despite promising results in patients who respond to MSC administration, a significant proportion of patients do not respond, and this has significantly dampened enthusiasm for MSC-based cell therapy. A better understanding of the mechanism of action (MOA) involved in the therapeutic effects of MSCs may help to stratify patients who will respond to MSC administration. In this issue of Molecular Therapy, Cheung et al. publish their findings on the role of caspase-mediated apoptosis of MSCs, leading to the release of immunosuppressive factors, including prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), which correlated with clinical responsiveness in Crohn's disease patients.1 The authors build upon on their previous study that identified a correlation between the induction of apoptosis mediated by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from patients with GvHD who responded to MSC administration.2 In the present article, Cheung et al. demonstrate once again a correlation between apoptosis induction in MSCs and a role for cyclooxygenase 2 (COX2)/PGE2 in mediating immunosuppressive effects in patients with Crohn's disease who responded to MSC therapy.1 The significance of this study is that it identifies potential assays that could be used to stratify patients based on the capacity of patient PBMCs to induce MSC apoptosis and/or the use of PGE2 levels produced from PBMC-induced apoptotic MSCs
The Time and Name of Mercy: Rabbi Abraham Heschel and Pope Francis in Dialogue
No full textFruits d’un colloque tenu le 24 octobre 2022, les articles illustrent avec brio l’ampleur et la pertinence des liens unissant le judaïsme et le christianisme autour de la question qui émerge de l’entrée en conversation avec deux de leurs éminents penseurs, rabbi Heschel et le pape François : le temps, sera-t-il supérieur à l’espace
The Influence of Public Opinion and Media on Judicial Decision-Making: Elite Judges’ Perceptions and Strategies
No full textNumerous studies have established that public opinion and the media influence judges in their decision-making. Previous research has relied predominantly on quantitative approaches. This paper brings a new perspective by employing a different strategy. Based on in-depth interviews with justices of the Czech Constitutional Court, it shows how elite judges think about public opinion and media, and the influence of these on judicial decision-making. The paper creates a typology of different judicial styles and attitudes towards media and public opinion. It shows that one polar category of judges employs deliberate strategies to affect the media and draw public opinion on their side. In contrast, the opposite one seeks to minimize or even avoid public and media exposure
Teachers seconded to continuing teacher education: professional development and the paradox of reaching proficiency
No full textIn Ireland state funded support services provide Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
for teachers and school leaders. These services are staffed with teachers seconded from their
schools on an annual basis for up to a maximum of five years. This study investigated the
learning and experience of teachers seconded to a national cross-sectoral support service, the
Professional Development Service for Teachers (PDST) and how this influences their postsecondment
career. It employed qualitative interviews to explore this from the perspective of
teachers previously seconded to the PDST. The theoretical framework was rooted in the field
of career dynamics setting out three stages (Entry, Experience, Exit) navigated by teachers
from entering the service through to their departure. This article focusses primarily on the study
findings for the Experience stage while necessarily providing some key insights from the Entry
phase. In the context of a considerably under-researched area both in Irish and international
teacher education, the findings bring due attention to the distinct role and identities of teachers
seconded as what this study calls “Continuing Teacher Educators” (CTEs). Findings show that
the learning acquired by these teachers is extensive while also revealing tensions encountered
in managing hybrid identities as teachers/teacher educators. Notably they expose precarious
tensions between the catalytic impact of secondment and the uncertain nature of its tenure. For
most, this eventuates in a premature departure from the service to other careers, paradoxically
having reached proficiency as teacher educators. Recommendations centre on career pathways
for teachers seconded to support services and a review of current secondment stipulations
within a need to privilege transformative CPD models in the system
Estimation of Optical Trapping Forces with the Eikonal Function
No full textAn optical trap, also known as an optical tweezer, is a scientific instrument that
uses a highly focused laser beam to trap and manipulate microscopic particles, such
as cells or individual molecules, in three dimensions and has many applications in various
fields of science, including biology, physics, and chemistry. The optical trap works
by transferring themomentum of photons to the trapped particles, creating a force that
can hold the particle in place. Ashkin developed a model to predict the forces in an optical
trap in theMie regime, i.e. for particles larger than the wavelength of the laser. His
model is based on geometrical ray optics,whereby the rays fromthe microscope objective
trace straight lines to a single focal point. These rays are refracted by the trapped
particle and resultant change in direction of the ray imparts a force due to the conservation
of momentum. The model takes no account of the effects of wave optics, which
are highly pronounced in the focal region of a lens. The model cannot, therefore, account
for the transfer orbital angular momentum from a Laguerre-Gaussian laser in a
so-called optical spanner, or the effects of wavefront aberration caused by an imperfect
microscope objective. In this thesis, we seek to bridge the gap between wave optics
and Ashkin’smodel using the concept of the Eikonal function, which traces the flux
lines through the focus. We call these flux lines non-linear rays, and these are used to
replace the rays in Ashkin’s model. This augmented model can account for the spin of
a particle in an optical spanner and for the deleterious effect of aberration. In the journey
towards this final result several significant contributions are made. These include
the extension of Ashkin’s model to account for absorption within the particle; we see a
natural consequence for this is the emergence of a rotational force. Another important
contribution are a set of algorithms to sample the three-dimensional diffraction in the
focal region of a lens and to trace the flux lines with high accuracy
Examining the Perceptions of Able Mathematicians to Mathematics Teaching and Learning in Post-Primary Schools in Ireland.
No full textThis thesis examines the perceptions of able mathematicians to their experience of mathematics teaching and learning in post-primary schools in Ireland. Able mathematicians are defined in this study as students who have done well in assessments but also students who have displayed an interest in the subject.
International research has shown that the classroom experience is fundamental in the development of students’ mathematical understanding, motivation, and identity. Despite popular myths, able mathematicians have specific needs that require differentiated instruction in the classroom. It has been suggested that giving students opportunities to experience creativity is a means of providing the challenges they need. This research aimed to investigate how able mathematicians in Ireland feel about their mathematics classroom experience, whether they feel challenged in class, and how they would respond to being given opportunities to explore creative tasks.
The research design was based on the framework of Sriraman (2005), which advocated five principles to maximise creativity for students in the classroom. The first of these was engagement in the four-stage creativity process of the Gestalt psychology principle of initiation-incubation-illumination-verification. The remaining four principles recommend that students are given opportunities to experience uncertainty, the aesthetical beauty of mathematics, the freedom to think and take risks, and the scholarly aspect of mathematics.
Data was gathered from 92 Transition Year students in five second level schools in Ireland. The students participated in a series of two specially designed workshops in which they were presented with unseen tasks with multiple solutions. The study design included surveys to gather data on the participants’ perceptions of their mathematics classroom experience, and to their workshop experiences. Sriraman’s Principles were used for the design of a template to analyse interviews with the students and audio recordings of the workshops.
The analysis revealed that there is strong evidence to suggest that the opportunities to be creative are not being maximised in classrooms. There appears to be considerable rote learning and memorisation of algorithms, with little opportunity to have the freedom to think and explore mathematical tasks. In contrast, the workshops were shown to have given the particpants opportunities to experience Sriraman’s five principles for creativity
Human macrophage migration inhibitory factor potentiates mesenchymal stromal cell efficacy in a clinically relevant model of allergic asthma
No full textCurrent asthma therapies focus on reducing symptoms but fail to restore existing structural damage. Mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC) administration can ameliorate airway inflammation and reverse airway remodelling. However, differences in patient disease microenvironments seem to influence MSC therapeutic effects. Polymorphic CATT tetranucleotide repeat at position 794 of the human macrophage migration inhibitory factor (hMIF) gene has been associated with increased susceptibility and severity of asthma. We investigated the efficacy of human MSCs in high vs low hMIF environments and the impact of MIF pre-licensing of MSCs using humanised MIF mice in a clinically relevant house dust mite (HDM) model of allergic asthma. MSCs significantly attenuated airway inflammation and airway remodelling in high MIF expressing CATT7 mice, but not in CATT5 or wildtype littermates. Differences in efficacy correlated with increased MSC retention in the lungs of CATT7 mice. MIF licensing potentiated MSC anti-inflammatory effects at a previously ineffective dose. Mechanistically, MIF binding to CD74 expressed on MSCs leads to upregulation of COX-2 expression. Blockade of CD74 or COX-2 function in MSCs prior to administration attenuated the efficacy of MIF-licensed MSCs in vivo. These findings suggest that MSC administration may be more efficacious in severe asthma patients with high MIF genotypes (CATT6/7/8)