National University of Ireland, Maynooth
MURAL - Maynooth University Research Archive LibraryNot a member yet
18981 research outputs found
Sort by
Opinion 2/13 and Accession to the ECHR
Full text linkOpinion 2/13, handed down just before Christmas 2014, is a landmark decision in both European Union (EU) human rights law and EU external relations law. It showed that the EU’s rhetorical commitment to international human rights protection is not necessarily matched by action: Opinion 2/13 was the second time the Court of Justice put the brakes on the EU’s ambition to become a party to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) for reasons rooted in the EU’s constitutional set-up. Having comprehensively assessed the fairly elaborate ECHR Draft Accession Agreement (DAA), the CJEU provided the yardstick for any future attempt at accession: the constitutional hurdles identified will have to be taken for any reworked DAA to pass muster. The Opinion is also a landmark judgment in the wider field of EU external relations. By clarifying and strengthening the principle of the autonomy of the EU legal order, the Court reiterated the legal limits governing the EU’s ability to integrate into the wider international order at a time when EU external relations and EU treaty-making are becoming increasingly important
Climate change turns warm summer days in England into health threat
Full text linkWorld Weather Attribution uses weather observations and climate models to understand how climate change influences the intensity and likelihood of extreme weather events. The studies also assess the role of human vulnerability and exposure in the impacts to highlight the actions needed to prepare for changing weather extremes.
WWA performed a super rapid analysis, analysing observations only on this early summer heat in the Southeast of the UK, defined (1) by the official heatwave definition of reaching 28°C in many of the so-called home counties and greater London (dark red region in figure 1, Met Office) and (2) the hottest predicted day in the same area. While this is not a full attribution study, the results are in agreement with the study undertaken in July 2022 over a similar region (Zachariah et al., 2022), thus we have high confidence in the results. calm, sunny days and gradually rising temperatures
Franz Schubert: a Pathway to Explore Illness and Healing in the Final Symphonies – A Conductor’s Perspective
Full text linkGenerally regarded as a dark work, Schubert’s ‘Unfinished’ Symphony in B minor (D. 759) was written while he was sick from syphilis, and questions abound as to why he never returned to complete this work. During a period of latency, which is part of the cycle of this illness, Schubert wrote what is generally thought of as a very positive work, and his longest symphony: the ‘Great’ Symphony in C major (D. 944). Did Schubert compose in a vacuum separated from
his illness? Is there any correlation to be drawn between his newly found health and that of the C-major Symphony? If so, what is to be learned?
Both symphonies offer themselves as a pathway to explore issues around illness and healing. Combining my experience as a conductor with my knowledge of the philosophical works of Hans-Georg Gadamer and contemporary research in both psychology and mindbody medicine, I tackle these questions, and in doing so, challenge many received truths about Schubert. The question is not any more if Schubert’s brain was affected, but how. By
undertaking an analysis on how Schubert’s varying states of illness and health might be seen to be represented in his music, I open up a whole new perspective in Schubertian scholarship, and demonstrate the rich and diverse ways in which music may be integrated into the health
humanities
Extensions of Bayesian Non-Parametric Causal Inference Machine Learning Methods with Applications to Large Scale Educational Studies
Full text linkWhen exploring how a unique individual’s characteristics can lead to variations
in their response to treatment, Bayesian non-parametric causal inference machine
learning methods based on Bayesian Additive Regression Trees (BART) and
Bayesian Causal Forests (BCF) have emerged as leading approaches. This thesis
presents a series of studies focused on extending and applying these methods to
large scale educational studies.
We begin by demonstrating the broad potential for these methods in educational
studies by applying BART to English data from the Teaching and Learning
International Survey (TALIS 2018). By estimating the effect of multiple treatments
on teacher job satisfaction, we identify positive factors such as continual
professional development and induction activities that may be used to improve
job satisfaction, thus encouraging teachers to stay in their jobs and new entrants
to join the profession.
Our second contribution is a multivariate extension of Bayesian Causal Forests,
designed to estimate the effect of an intervention on multiple outcome variables
simultaneously. By allowing the tree structure of BCF to benefit from the shared
information across all outcome variables, we demonstrate the performance gains
made possible with this approach. Applying this method to Irish data from the
Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS 2019), we also
investigate the effect of a number of home-related factors on student achievement
such as having access to a study desk at home, often being absent, or often feeling
hungry when arriving at school.
Later, we augment this multivariate model in order to investigate the separate
effects of homework frequency and homework duration on student achievement in
mathematics and science, again using data from TIMSS 2019. We find that while
increasing homework frequency can lead to greater homework benefits, increasing
homework duration beyond 15 minutes has no additional effect.
Our final contribution is a longitudinal extension of BCF, designed to estimate
treatment effects from multiple waves of data, using a structure similar to that
of the difference-in-differences approach. With the help of simulation studies, we
demonstrate the performance gains made possible with our new method. Applying
this model to data from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS), we
also reveal the negative effects of participation in intensive part-time work by high
school students
Integrative analysis of the physiological, seasonal, and genetic influences on bovine milk oligosaccharide production and associated protein profiles
No full textCentral to the advancement of Irish dairy is the optimisation of whole colostrum/milk for improved calf health, and adding value to commercial products, such as bringing infant-formula compositionally closer to breast milk. Bovine milk has reduced diversity and yield of health-promoting oligosaccharides (OS), and their valuable effects are largely lost to formula-fed infants. To address this discrepancy, natural optimisation of bovine milk oligosaccharide (BMO) quantity and composition was investigated, by assessing key factors influencing their production. OS profiles revealed colostrum samples, Jersey cows, and 2nd-4th parity cows contained highest OS concentrations and highlighted prolific correlates (3-FL, DSLNT). Furthermore, high inter-cow colostrum variation revealed a wide range of BMO production, with 10 cows producing much higher (> 50% increase compared to mean) total OS concentrations. Three OS traits (LNnH, LSTa, DSLNT) reported heritabilities greater than 0.59 (P < 0.01). However, GWAS analysis reported no significantly associated SNPs after FDR (q < 0.05), with environmental factors significantly contributing to phenotypic variance. This work is the first to report bovine colostral OS hertabilities and paves the way for necessary additional GWAS studies to assess the feasibility of selective breeding initiatives including OS production in the future. Like BMO, specific milk proteins exhibit health-promoting properties. The effect of day post-partum and parity on the global protein profile during early lactation was investigated to expand proteome coverage/characterisation and offer an Irish context to previous analyses. Protein concentration decreased significantly after day 0 before stabilising. Overall, 471 proteins were identified across all samples; 199 protein groups showed altered relative abundance by day of lactation (fold change ≥2, adjusted-P <0.05), but none were altered significantly by parity. Colostrum had the highest levels of immune-related proteins. Subsequently, the association between BMO production and the protein profile of colostrum was explored to improve our holistic understanding of the global milk environment. Comprehensive characterisation of the colostral protein profile from high, mid-range, and low oligosaccharide producing cows (HOP, MOP, LOP) was carried out through analysis of the unfractionated colostrum, extracellular vesicle (EV), and cell fractions. The HOP had significantly higher levels of total protein than LOP. The unfractionated samples of HOP are associated with high levels of gastrointestinal modulatory proteins. In comparison, the EV fraction of the LOP contained higher relative abundances of immune-related proteins. This integrative approach allowed for the characterisation of distinct compositional profiles which may inform selection criteria for naturally enhanced colostrum, potentially targeting immuno-compromised calves and/or for use as a value-added starting material for powder products
The VEGF‐Mediated Cytoprotective Ability of MIF‐Licensed Mesenchymal Stromal Cells in House Dust Mite‐Induced Epithelial Damage
Full text linkABSTRACT
Enhancing mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC) therapeutic efficacy through licensing with proinflammatory cytokines is now well established. We have previously shown that macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF)‐licensed MSCs exerted significantly enhanced therapeutic efficacy in reducing inflammation in house dust mite (HDM)‐driven allergic asthma. Soluble mediators released into the MSC secretome boast cytoprotective properties equal to those associated with the cell itself. In asthma, epithelial barrier damage caused by the inhalation of allergens like HDM drives goblet cell hyperplasia. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) plays a pivotal role in the repair and maintenance of airway epithelial integrity. Human bone marrow‐derived MSCs expressed the MIF receptors CD74, CXCR2, and CXCR4. Endogenous MIF from high MIF expressing CATT 7 bone marrow‐derived macrophages increased MSC production of VEGF through the MIF CXCR4 chemokine receptor, where preincubation with CXCR4 inhibitor mitigated this effect. CATT 7 ‐MIF licensed MSC conditioned media containing increased levels of VEGF significantly enhanced bronchial epithelial wound healing via migration and proliferation in vitro. Blocking VEGFR2 or the use of mitomycin C abrogated this effect. Furthermore, CATT 7 ‐MIF MSC CM significantly decreased goblet cell hyperplasia after the HDM challenge in vivo. This was confirmed to be VEGF‐dependent, as the use of anti‐human VEGF neutralising antibody abrogated this effect. Overall, this study highlights that MIF‐licenced MSCs show enhanced production of VEGF, which has the capacity to repair the lung epithelium
Housing Need and Demand Assessment Policy Report. Data Stories Working Paper 7.
Full text linkThis policy report examines the use of data to determine long-term housing tenure needs
and demands in Ireland through an in-depth case study of the Government of Ireland’s
Housing Need and Demand Assessment (HNDA) policy. The study draws from deskbased research of all 31 local authority’s local development plans, 11 interviews with
planners, policymakers and consultants involved in the rollout and present review of the
HNDA, two workshops with key stakeholders exploring the relationship between
evidence and policy and 13 post-workshop interviews. Beyond providing a synthesis of
how the HNDA process was understood by users and key stakeholders, the report
develops a critique of: 1) the methodology, 2) the capacity of local authorities to perform
an HNDA, 3) the rollout of the policy and 4) overarching governance issues
Employment motivations and values in the creative industries: Reorienting from creativity to well-being among-Generation Zs in Ireland
Full text linkThis study aims to better understand the experiences and motivations of creative industry workers who graduated degree programmes at a time of significant work and employment instability during the Covid-19 pandemic. Using a case study approach involving a qualitative questionnaire with 16 open- and closed-ended questions, we present responses from 20 graduates of media studies programmes at an Irish university. Findings show that young people who graduated at the time of the pandemic did experience career disruption and felt financially compelled to rethink their career ambitions. Pandemic-related economic uncertainties meant that many participants either did not enter creative industries or took up roles that did not utilise their creative degrees. However, many of these young people have found job satisfaction in ‘being mentally well’ at least as much as ‘being creative’, and prioritise good quality of life and achieving work-life balance. Good mental health and well-being are pronounced personal and career motivators, with new work regimes such as remote and hybrid working seen as important rewards and incentives
Irish Business and Management Research: Towards the Post Irish Journal of Management Era
Full text linkThis paper considers the future of management and organisation research in Ireland in the context of the final issue of the Irish Journal of Management after five decades of publication. The Irish Journal of Management has provided a platform for Irish-based scholarship and scholarship on business and management in the Irish context while also embracing international contributions. Its demise coincides with a shift within Irish business schools towards internationalisation and a focus on publication in higher impact outlets, driven in no small part by research funding reforms, the drive for international accreditation, and global academic league tables. While this has greatly enhanced the profile of Irish business schools internationally, it has also arguably reduced the emphasis on Ireland as a research context. This raises some concern in that it privileges universal, theory-driven contributions to the detriment of more contextual insights. In this paper, we call for renewed attention to Irish-specific phenomena, including indigenous firms, and multinational subsidiaries. In so doing, we align with calls for greater more responsible research that values both the local and global. We illustrate the importance of contextualised research before concluding by outlining considerations for Irish management scholarship in a post-Irish Journal of Management era