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Recognising Marginalistaion as a Psychosocial Issue Among Adolescents and Young Adults with Cancer
No full textAdolescents and young adults with cancer (AYACs) have been recognised as a group with developmentally distinct psychosocial needs in recent years. Despite this, the heterogeneity of identities and experiences within the AYAC population is yet to be fully understood. The marginalisation that AYACs and particular groups with intersecting identities face, within the context of cancer care, has yet to be addressed. The present thesis sought to examine issues of marginalisation among marginalised groups within the AYAC population. The first study presented was a systematic review of the psychosocial needs of AYACs belonging to marginalised groups, during their active cancer phase. The findings of this study provided a thematic overview of the psychosocial needs of AYACs across the 19 studies included. The second study presented was a qualitative secondary analysis of interview data. It explored awareness and understanding of marginalisation among AYACs, healthcare professionals, parents and advocates in Ireland. The findings provided insight into the groups within the cancer care context, including AYACs, who are considered marginalised. It also provided findings relating to the mechanisms through which marginalisation occurs during cancer care and the barriers to changing these processes. Together, the two studies provide a broad and inclusive overview of the groups within the AYAC population that are at risk of marginalisation and the poorer psychosocial outcomes they experience because of the cumulative stress associated with their marginalised identities. The findings also give an overview of the psychosocial processes through which some AYACs become marginalised during their care, including interactions with care staff and lack of access to information that suits their needs . The results of the thesis are considered in relation to the existing literature, as well in relation to their implications for future research and clinical psychology practice.2025-12-10 JG: Signatures removed from PD
The effectiveness of a universal school-based intervention on state wellbeing in Irish school children: An umbrella review and cluster randomised controlled trial
No full textBackground: Childhood is a critically important developmental time for mental health and wellbeing, with evidence that early intervention can have lifelong benefits. Aims: This thesis describes two studies. The first assessed the scale and quality of the evidence base for school-based Mindfulness Based Interventions (MBI). The second evaluated the effectiveness of the A Lust for Life (ALFL) multi-component wellbeing programme, of which mindfulness is a fundamental component. Methods: An umbrella review was carried on meta-analyses of MBIs of controlled trials, with 6 included reviews covering 110 primary studies (N participants = 28,910; M = 12 yrs). The cluster randomised controlled trial (RCT) on the ALFL programme involved 402 participants from fifth and sixth classes (M = 11 yrs) in 9 schools, with random assignment to intervention or waiting list control group. Results: Findings of the umbrella review indicated statistically significant improvements, with small effect sizes, for wellbeing (g = 0 .128), anxiety (g = 0.112) and mindfulness (g = 0.11); and no statistically significant effect for depression, with a very small effect size (g = 0.05). The RCT showed that participation in ALFL led to small improvements in state wellbeing when children used behavioural skills, including mindfulness skills, which they learnt on the ALFL programme (d = 0.18, p = .034), and an increase in their use of skills learnt on the programme to promote state wellbeing (d = 0.27, p = .001), but no significant improvements in measures of trait wellbeing, anxiety or depression. Conclusions: The findings show that universal school-based interventions can improve wellbeing for children, while effectiveness in terms of anxiety or depression is mixed, with a possible differentiation in effect between ‘state’ and ‘trait’ measures. Implications and recommendations are discussed
Who am I? A Phenomenology of Identity Disturbance in Borderline Personality Disorder
No full textThis thesis provides a novel phenomenological account of identity disturbance in borderline personality disorder (BPD). BPD is a psychiatric illness characterised by instability in one’s identity, interpersonal conflict, difficulties in emotion regulation, and suicidality (American Psychiatric Association, 2022b). Currently, BPD research focuses primarily on the diagnostic criterion of emotion dysregulation, interpreting this as the main component of the disorder. However, by doing so it fails to fully acknowledge the effects an unstable sense of self, also known as identity disturbance, has on the patient’s thoughts, behaviours, and actions. Moreover, those that have attempted to emphasise identity disturbance fall short in their methods. They argue either that (1) identity disturbance is a result of the patient’s inability to form a coherent narrative about their life, or (2) identity disturbance is the term given to a collection of common experiences of self-inconsistency. In doing so, two problems arise: (1) they assume that a person’s ability to narrate their life determines their sense of self and (2) that experiences such as “patient sometimes feels unreal” have clear and determined meanings. These problems lead to a misunderstanding of BPD, ultimately impacting on how effective current treatments are. With the combined use of phenomenological psychopathology and empirical studies, I offer a reconceptualisation of identity disturbance as a multifaceted construct which consists of alterations to one’s self-other-world relation. I argue that the phenomenological core of identity disturbance should be understood as disturbed self-experience which details an alienation and subsequent breakdown in communication between one’s pre- reflective and reflective self-awareness. I then apply this new understanding to the behavioural manifestations within the disorder, progressing our knowledge of how experiences of dissociation and chronic feelings of shame occur. By highlighting the role of disturbed self-experience in identity disturbance, my research will advance our current perception of BPD, bridging the gap between philosophy, psychiatry, and psychology. Thus in highlighting the importance of identity disturbance in BPD, primary treatments like dialectical behavioural therapy (DBT) can benefit from this newfound research
Online Communication and Youth Mental Health
No full textYoung people aged 12-29 are at an increased risk of developing mental health difficulties due to various developmental, psychosocial, and contextual changes. More recently, many have linked the rise in mental health issues among this age group to increased digital technology use. However, these technologies also offer protective benefits, such as facilitating friendships and providing access to mental health support. This research examines the potential protective effects of digital technologies and youth mental health. Study 1 investigates the bidirectional associations between interactive communication and passive social media engagement, and youth mental health outcomes using a longitudinal within-person approach. Results indicate that passive engagement is not associated with mental health over time, while active communication is linked to reduced mental health difficulties, albeit inconsistently and in one direction. Study 2 describes a systematic review of the international literature on online synchronous chat-based counselling for youth mental health, examining their design characteristics, therapeutic components, post-intervention acceptance, and effectiveness in relation to youth mental health and wellbeing outcomes. Findings from N = 18 studies reveal significant variability in service design and outcome measurements, with mixed effectiveness for these supports. However, findings also reveal that young people generally find these services acceptable. Study 3 focuses on young people using online chat counselling in an Irish context, finding that attendees experience higher psychological distress than those in traditional mental health services. Most participants are female, attend only one session, and present multiple and complex mental health issues. Study 4 builds on studies 2 and 3 and presents the co-design of an evaluability assessment for online chat-based counselling interventions in collaboration with youth mental health service staff. Through two workshops aimed at building a programme theory, this research clarifies how these interventions operate in practice, their proposed mechanisms of change, outcomes, and real-world impact. In line with the aims of the present evaluability assessment, this study provides a series of recommendations for evaluation and research in light of programme theory findings. Collectively, the findings from this research provide insights into the benefits of digital technologies and supports for youth mental health
Liquidity resiliency of the euro-area sovereign bond market
No full textThis thesis is a collection of three essays that empirically examine liquidity resiliency from a market microstructure perspective in the Eurozone sovereign bond markets. Firstly, I offer new insights into liquidity resiliency by constructing Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO)-based resiliency measures applying the mean-reverting model of Kempf et al. (2015), and this is presented in Chapter 2 (first essay). Second, in Chapter 3 (second essay), I examine the commonality of liquidity resiliency at the GIIPS, non-GIIPS, and pan-European levels. In the final chapter (Chapter 4), I examine whether liquidity resiliency as a separate dimension of liquidity is a priced variable by applying the liquidity-capital asset pricing model advanced by Acharya and Pedersen (2005). In the first essay (Chapter 2), I present novel insights into liquidity resiliency, a relatively neglected dimension of liquidity. I empirically analyse the liquidity resiliency of the Eurozone sovereign bond markets by applying 2-, 5-, 10-, and 30-year bond maturities. Three periods were applied in this study: the pre-crisis period (January 2008-October 2009), the Eurozone crisis period (November 2009-December 2013), and the full period (January 2008-December 2013). I employed the Kempf et al. (2015) OLS-based approach and a combination of an OLS approach and the LASSO machine learning approach to compute resiliency from relative spreads (RS) and quoted depths (QD). The findings reveal that RS and QD resiliency are negatively correlated with relative spreads and positively correlated with quoted depth. The correlations between RS resiliency, QD resiliency, relative spreads, and quoted depths are generally low. This indicates that resiliency is a separate liquidity dimension and provides information that cannot be subsumed from the relative spreads or quoted depth dimensions. I provide evidence that OLS- and LASSO-based resiliency measures should be used interchangeably. Moreover, I study the interrelationships between resiliency and volatility, returns, and credit risk and find that intertemporal relationships exist. Chapter 3 examines the commonality in liquidity resiliency of the ten eurozone sovereign bond markets across the maturity spectrum. I applied the principal component analysis (PCA) to compute the market-wide (common) resiliency factor. Using OLS-based regressions, I then tested the sensitivities of individual country bond resiliency to the market-wide resiliency factor. This is analysed at the peripheral (GIIPS) countries, core (non-GIIPS) countries, and pan-European levels. I examine the strength of the relationship between GIIPS and non-GIIPS countries' resiliency using the canonical correlation analysis (CCA) approach. Finally, supply-based variables (funding liquidity constraints), demand-based variables (investor sentiment, economic policy uncertainty, and exchange rate fluctuations), and market variables are used to explain the drivers of commonality in resiliency in the Eurozone sovereign bond markets. I find evidence of commonality in the resiliency of GIIPS and non-GIIPS countries in the pre-crisis and crisis periods; however, this is more apparent and pervasive in the GIIPS region during the Eurozone crisis period. I find a significant Eurozone liquidity resiliency effect, though economically small but statistically significant, as the countries react differently to the Eurozone resiliency factor, which is congruent with the fragmented nature of the Eurozone countries. I find that funding liquidity constraints, as supply-side drivers of commonality in RS and QD resiliency, impact both GIIPS and non-GIIPS countries. In Chapter 4, I examine whether liquidity resiliency risk is a priced variable in Eurozone sovereign bond returns beyond the level of resiliency, credit risk, and market risk. I apply a variant of the Liquidity-Adjusted Capital Asset Pricing Model developed by Acharya (2005)
The extraction of bioactive compounds from white willow bark (Salix. alba) and their application in food
No full textThis thesis investigated the use of sustainable extraction methods to produce food-grade willow extracts rich in polyphenols and subsequently evaluated the feasibility of incorporating willow bark extract into yoghurt. In Chapter 2, extraction systems with different EtOH concentrations (20-96%), extraction temperatures (25-100°C), and solvent pH (pH 2-6) were studied. TPC and antioxidant activity were maximum with 50% EtOH. The extracts obtained from a combination of low pH and high temperatures contained a high proportion of NT, which might be preferred by consumers due to being less astringent and lighter in appearance. The phenolic compounds identified and quantified in the willow extracts were salicin, chlorogenic acid, epicatechin, p-salicylic acid, and p-coumaric acid, in which the former three compounds exhibited in silico inhibitory potentials against AChE and BuChE. The aqueous willow extracts at 80°C contained high level of these three compounds, may have potential in preventing Alzheimer’s disease. Overall, the results indicated hot water extraction could be a cost and environmentally friendly alternative to 50% EtOH, with a comparable level of TPC and promising neuroprotective potentials. Chapter 3 investigated the effects of MAE on the phenolic compounds in willow bark using LC-QTOF-MS. The LC-MS analysis enabled the tentative identification of 40 compounds. Salicylates, flavonoids, procyanidins, and phenolic acids were main compounds in the willow extracts. The TPC and antioxidant activity were affected by the end-point temperature obtained from MAE, with the TPC and antioxidant activity of the extracts increasing with an increase in temperature from 70 to 220°C. However, the LC-MS and colour analyses revealed the possible degradation of some phenolic compounds due to the excessive temperature during MAE. Overall, MAE is a promising extraction method to produce willow bark extracts with high antioxidant activity for use in functional foods. Chapter 4 compared the impacts of emerging pre-treatments (PEF, US) with milling and soaking on the damage of the willow tissues and their cumulative effects in a subsequent hot water extraction of polyphenols from willow bark chips. All pre-treatments increased the release of TPC and antioxidant activities. At a similar energy level, PEF with 400 pulses yielded the highest TPC. However, a small increase in energy input via US resulted a significant increase in TPC (46 mg GAE/g d.w.). Compared with mechanical pre-treatments, soaking was less effective in recovering polyphenols, but showed a comparable extractability with PEF and US when employed at low energy levels. Overall results indicated emerging technologies PEF and US can be alternatives to milling to enhance the extractability of polyphenols, to reduce the energy consumption, and to make the filtration step easier. In Chapter 5, willow bark (2—10%, w/w) was successfully incorporated into a yoghurt. The addition of willow bark affected the rheological properties of the yoghurt. During fermentation at 42°C, an increase in willow bark concentrations from 0 to 10% led to an increase in the time required to reach the gelation point (G’ ≥ 1). No significant differences in the final G’ at 42°C between the control and samples containing 2% & 5% willow bark, whereas 10% willow bark significantly reduced the final G’. However, once the gel was cooled to 4°C, there was a significant increase in the G' of the yoghurts with willow bark added, indicating formation of a firmer gel at 4°C. However, willow bark addition increased the level of syneresis of the final yoghurt. The change in the rheological properties of willow added yoghurt may believe to be associated with the interactions between proteins and willow bark polyphenols. Overall, fortification of yoghurt with 2 & 5% willow bark might be a promising functional dairy product with acceptable texture and appearance
Experimental and Numerical Gravity Load Performance of Stud and Bearer Sections in Cold-Formed Steel Panelised Construction
No full textCold-formed steel (CFS) panelised modern methods of construction can potentially help to mitigate the world's housing deficit and construction-related sustainability targets. Most existing research studied the global behaviour of bare or sheathed CFS wall panels under lateral or seismic loading instead of vertical or gravity loading. The efficient design of CFS panelised buildings under gravity loading is possible only when the behaviour of individual structural components can be precisely predicted. However, the design and numerical modeling guidance of individual CFS structural components acting as the critical gravity load-bearing components in CFS panelised buildings is restricted to ideal conditions instead of practical loading, restraint, and boundary conditions. As a result, there is a lack of design and numerical modeling guidance, causing their uptake to be lesser in the construction industry than necessary and highlighting the need for further research and development. Practitioners and Eurocode 3 follow the 'all-steel' design as sheathing may be damaged and replaced at some stage. Therefore, this thesis applied actual gravity load conditions and restraint arising from practical situations or boundary conditions to propose 'all-steel' design guidance and numerical modeling guidance for the efficient design of bare CFS lipped channel studs and unlipped channel bearer sections, the two critical gravity load-bearing structural components in CFS panelised construction. This research experimentally studied a total of fifty-six industry-standard bare CFS studs under monotonic, static vertical, or gravity loading scenarios and demonstrated that the track-boundary condition (BCT), which the studs are subjected to in CFS wall panels significantly influences the studs' axial compressive performance and failure mechanism under gravity loading compared to the ideal hinged boundary conditions (BCH). The studs' failure mechanism was flexural-torsional under BCT but flexural under BCH. Studs exhibited a two-phased axial stiffness due to the stud-to-track gap in BCT instead of a single axial stiffness in BCH. The studs' axial stiffness in BCT post-stud-to-track gap closure was 30% lower than BCH. An optimal effective length factor of 0.65 was suggested, considering the tracks' restraint stiffness for the efficient design of studs with BCT. No numerical modeling guidance exists in the literature that can precisely replicate the effect of BCT on the axial-compressive strength and stiffness behaviour of the CFS studs under vertical or gravity loading scenarios. This research addresses this gap by investigating softened pressure-overclosure relationships for the first time to propose a new FEA contact modeling approach for axially loaded bare CFS studs that can accurately predict the strength, stiffness, failure mechanism, and post-peak behaviour with BCT under gravity loading scenarios. New predictive equations were developed to determine the accurate softened contact parameters for the bare studs and to enable designers to use accurately calibrated models to capture bare studs' complex axial compressive behaviour in the elastic and inelastic range. For the first time, the combined web-crippling and bending behaviour of CFS unlipped channel bearer sections in load-bearing CFS panelised constructions were investigated through with lateral restraints and simply supported boundary conditions under single stud (Case I), double studs (Case II), and three studs/single panel (Case III) removal scenarios. Five different web-crippling equations in literature and web-crippling-bending interaction equations in Eurocode 3 and AISI S100 were evaluated with the test/FEA data. New characteristic nominal web-crippling-bending interaction ratios and modification factors to prescribed nominal web-crippling capacities were proposed for the bearers' efficient design under gravity loading and real-world stud(s) or single-panel removal scenarios.2025-12-02 JG: Author's signature removed from PD
The Golden Horde Revisited? History and Regional Identity Politics in the late USSR and post-Soviet Russia (Republic of Tatarstan), 1985-2018
No full textThe thesis examines changing depictions of the Golden Horde – the medieval polity that existed on the territories of contemporary Russia and Kazakhstan from the thirteenth through the fifteenth centuries – in historical narratives produced in the Republic of Tatarstan (a part of the Russian Federation) from 1985, the start of perestroika in the USSR, to 2018, when Russian federal law prohibited the obligatory study of national languages in national republics, which marked the end of even symbolic autonomy for ethnic minorities in Russia. The thesis explores and seeks to explain the nuances of these shifting historiographical interpretations, and in particular, the ways in which these histories affected, and were affected by, policy making processes. In this respect, this project is a case study of a metahistorical approach of how the past of a certain minority is written and used at a given time. The thesis suggests that the shifting uses and understanding of the medieval past were central to broader questions of regional identity, memory politics, sovereignty and political power in the post-Soviet years. The thesis shows that in Tatarstan history very often was understood as a type of flexible ideological and political tool, one that had a relationship with broader questions about the changing horizontal and vertical nature of political power at local and national levels. One of key findings of this thesis is also that personality and relationships are crucially important to understanding how history is produced, and that this factor is much more vital than the so-called “objective (material) reality.
Cytometry-based methods for sorting and characterization of Extracellular Vesicles: a Novel approach for Breast Cancer detection and stratification
No full textIn recent years Extracellular Vesicles (EVs) have become heavily studied due to their ability to regulate gene expression and alter the function of various cell types. There has been significant interest in the cargo and the cells of origin due to this effect. Isolation and molecular profiling of subsets of EVs (i.e., RNAs, proteins, lipids, metabolites) are critical for understanding the biogenesis of EVs and their potential utility as biomarkers. To this end, Flow Cytometry has been employed for the analysis, characterisation, and phenotyping of EV populations and their cargo in a technique called nano-FACS. While nano-FACS has become more prevalent as an analysis tool and undergone standardization formats, nano-sorting is neither well defined nor a commonly used technique. Historically, this is due to the complexity of the technique and instrumentation necessary for sorting EVs. In this study, the CytoFLEX SRT, a semiconductor-based benchtop cell sorter equipped with avalanche photodiodes and optimized signal detection, is utilized for the detection and nano-sorting of EV populations via Violet Side Scatter (VSSC) and fluorescent (FL) triggering. The SRT can be optimized to interrogate EV populations via VSSC, 405nm, to evaluate size > 100 nm, calculated by Mie Theory, and FL intensity of specific proteins on the EV surface. Moreover, multiple scattering profiles (VSSC vs Red SSC/640nm) can be analysed simultaneously to elucidate subpopulations for greater characterisation. Nano-FACS consists of minor hardware and software adaptations, a rigorous QC/QA component, and post-analysis via specialized software for standardization and accuracy of results. To prove the feasibility of nano-FACS as a tool for EV research, this work highlights the characterisation of SKBR3, a Breast Cancer (BC) cell line that overexpresses HER2 gene, EVs via nano-FACS methodology for the isolation and characterisation of HER2+ SKBR3 EVs. By fluorescently labelling the HER2 surface protein, one can sort subpopulations of SKBR3 EVs for further classification of subtypes and their cargo. This study will develop a standardised methodology, termed nano-FACS, to identify, isolate, and characterise EV subpopulations via Flow Cytometry. Furthermore, this study will show the robust nature of nano-FACS for the sizing, concentration, and identification of subpopulations in a standardised and straightforward method. In turn, it is the aim of this study to isolate and characterise cancer cell EVs for use in nanomedicine
The Mystical Dramaturgy of Maurice Maeterlinck and William Butler Yeats
No full textMaeterlinck and Yeats, while cautious of the term “symbolist,” saw themselves as part of the same historical movement, which Yeats, echoing Mallarmé, described as the “trembling of the veil in the temple.” Both are pivotal in modern theatre, and the similarity in their theatrical innovations extends beyond Yeats’s so-called symbolist period. All their innovations—abolition of spatiotemporal frames, musical treatment of language, imaginary settings, static drama, dissolution of character, choral treatment of characters, short formats, etc.—serve the same ambition: to make theatre a temple for mystical xperiences. Their mystical quest intertwines with their dramaturgical exploration. While Maeterlinck’s connection to Christian mysticism is evident through his focus on the Flemish mystic Ruysbroeck, Yeats’s mysticism is more occult. However, their paths converge through influences from Neo-Platonism, Indian thought, and Boehme, driven by the quest for a personal encounter with the unknown, which neither names God. For drama, the comparison with mysticism is particularly fruitful because it is the branch of theology that focuses on experience rather than intellectual understanding of the divine. Unlike classical theatre, which maintains a distance between the audience and the representation, their mystical drama aims to immerse the audience in the experience, making them co-creators. Rather than realistically representing mystical or esoteric experiences, for which the spectators would only be external witnesses, Maeterlinck and Yeats invent new forms to make them live the experience directly. Dream and reverie are the two states that come closest to this godless mysticism. Immersion in the dream, a pure sensory and emotional vision, is prolonged by a more meditative reverie, which reintroduces reason into the dream. However, reason comes up against the unknowable nature of the object it attempts to apprehend. Their renewal of dramatic speech is tied to their reflections on this ineffable mystery. Their theatre, wary of language, in its mundane use, nonetheless marks a return to poetic drama entirely founded on language, which they try to reconnect to the mystery. Although it remains nameless, the object of the mystical reverie is omnipresent and assumes multiple transient symbolic masks, radically transforming dramatic structure. Drama being directed towards an elusive object, it nullifies action, which unfolds without intervention, will, or logic. Characters are no longer active subjects but merge with the mystery, becoming its image, either as true mystical characters or as simple vessels for the voice of the unknown that passes through them