National University of Ireland, Maynooth
MURAL - Maynooth University Research Archive LibraryNot a member yet
18981 research outputs found
Sort by
Regime Shifts in Holocene Paleohydrology as Recorded by Asian Speleothems
Get PDFSpeleothem oxygen isotope records offer unique insights into Asian Monsoon evolution, withtheir precise chronologies used to identify abrupt climatic events. However, individual records are sometimesused to draw broad conclusions about global climate, without considering the dynamical context in which theyexist. We present a robust framework for assessing the regional significance, and hence the potential globalsignificance, of paleoclimate events, using the proposed Meghalayan age onset (associated with the “4.2 kaevent”) as a case study. Analyzing 14 well‐dated speleothem oxygen isotope records from the SISAL v3database and recent literature, we investigate the regional coherency of rapid shifts in Asian paleohydrology,which is the regional center of action for the proposed event, over the Holocene. Three robust methods fail todetect spatially coherent variability consistent with a 4.2 ka event across Asia, either because none exists orbecause it is of insufficient magnitude. In contrast, the 8.2 ka event is expressed in most records that resolve it.The absence of a clear isotopic excursion across this data set suggests that the “4.2 ka megadrought” was notglobal, with important implications for archeology and geochronology. This casts doubt on the proposal that the4.2 ka event marks the onset of a new geologic age. We do, however, observe support for a gradual isotopicenrichment between 3.9 and 3.6 ka, followed by partial recovery—consistent with the “Double Drying”hypothesis and possibly related to changes in El Niño‐Southern Oscillation variabilit
Antimicrobial resistance within Irish hospital sanitary ware and bloodstream infections.
Get PDFAntimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global health crisis with previous reports stating 70% of Hospital Acquired Infections (HAIs) are directly linked to Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR). In Ireland, the rates of AMR associated HAIs increase annually with Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus the most frequent causative agents. The theory of hospital sanitary ware acting as reservoirs for these AMR pathogens has been previously described throughout Europe.
The first part of the following thesis investigated Irish hospital sanitary ware for the presence of these persistent AMR pathogens with a specific focus on extended-spectrum-beta lactamase (ESBL) and carbapenemase (CP) producing bacteria. Beta-lactams, particularly, carbapenems and third generation cephalosporins, are broad-spectrum antimicrobials used to treat dangerous infections. Pin-pointing the location of AMR pathogens resistant to these life-saving antimicrobials are a top priority within clinical environments. The findings of this section highlight these reservoirs and discuss the microbial populations within.
The second part of the following thesis characterises and compares eighty bloodstream infection (BSI) isolates collected from patients at three Irish hospitals. This section uncovered resistant mechanisms of ESBL and CP Enterobacterales, MRSA, and VREfm. These mechanisms included the presence of blaCTX-M-15, blaOXA-48, within Enterobacterales, mecA genes within MRSA isolates, and the vanA operon reported in VREfm isolates. One finding of this study underlines the movement of different plasmid replicon types not only between the bacteria as species but between different species sequence types across all three hospitals. Other findings highlight species relatedness and similarities by using phylogenetic and distancing analysis
The life and times of a midlands land agent W. J. H. Tyrrell (1883 – 1933)
No full textW. J. H. Tyrrell (1852 – 1933) the subject of this thesis, was a small independent land agent, managing his own land at Grange, county Kildare, and acting as a professional land agent for several minor gentry landowners in the vicinity of Edenderry, county Offaly. He was appointed receiver over the estate of William L. Bor, Ballindoolin House, Edenderry, by the King’s Bench in 1893 and subsequently purchased the house and lands from the Land Commission in 1933
Can We Talk About Climate Change? Towards a Transformative Model of Adult Climate Change Education
Get PDFThis thesis examines the role of adult climate change education in Ireland through the lens of critical pedagogy and Ecological Marxism. Drawing on the work of Gramsci and Freire, this exploration examines pathways for education to move beyond individualistic approaches. It argues for education that nurtures critical thinking, ultimately leading to collective action. The research was conducted using semi-structured interviews with climate educators and activists to produce qualitative data for analysis. The findings revealed that dominant educational narratives frequently reinforce neoliberal ideologies. Despite the barriers, there are efforts to create dialogical adult learning spaces where the links between climate change and broad issues of justice, power and resistance can be explored. This thesis argues that a transformative approach to climate education can empower adults to critically engage with systemic drivers of environmental devastation. Climate change education must be reorientated towards a praxis of hope, which harnesses learners’ lived knowledge so that education becomes a tool for change
“It Opened the World and Created the World”: Experiences of Digital Transformation for Adults Over 60 in Community Education.
Get PDFAs society becomes more digitised, there are increased opportunities for older
individuals to be excluded due to barriers such as fear, anxiety and lack of confidence in the
operation of technology and the Internet (Yazdani-Darki et. al., 2020; Wilson et al., 2023).
This thesis explores the experiences of eight participants over 60 who engaged in Digital
Skills education in a Community Education setting in Ireland. Utilising a qualitative
approach, it investigates the impacts of this learning experience upon their digital skills,
digital confidence and digital motivation to use these tools outside of the classroom
environment. It explores the challenges which are implicit to this and if this learning
experience was transformational. The thesis seeks to address a gap in the literature
surrounding older learners in this context (Pizzul et al., 2024; Flynn, 2025).
A Transformative Learning Theory (Mezirow, 1975) and social constructionist
approach was employed utilising semi-structured interviews. Findings revealed that learned
skills were used to make progress towards closing the gap between participants and the
technological society they inhabit. Expressions of reduced fear and anxiety accompanied by
an increase in confidence in their technological abilities were reported by many. However,
barriers persisted for some. Factors such as peer-to-peer interaction and facilitation of a
supportive classroom environment aided in mitigating these barriers.
This research highlights that Community Education has the ability to have a
transformative effect upon over 60s accessing the digital world and can enable them to
participate more fully as active citizens in society
Inspireurope+ Recommendations: Expanding opportunities in Europe for researchers at risk (Update 2025)
Get PDFAcademic freedom is in decline globally, and
scholars around the world are facing threats to
their lives, liberty, and research careers. According
to the Academic Freedom Index (AFI), over half of
the world’s population live in environments where
academic freedom is either severely or completely
restricted. The annual Free to Think report published
by Scholars at Risk documents 391 attacks on scholars
across 51 countries in 2024 alone. This is evidence of
a worrying trend spanning Africa, the Americas, Asia,
Europe, and the Middle East, which includes armed
conflict, violent crackdowns on dissents both on and
off campus, as well as illiberal policies that limit the
right to freedom of expression. These concerning
trends affect the lives and careers of individual
researchers and endanger academic freedom
worldwide. When researchers are at risk, not only are
individual lives and careers in jeopardy, but the quality
and very future of research is also at stake
Inspireurope + Insights: Programmes that Support Researchers at Risk Support Democracy
Get PDFSupporting researchers at risk is essential for democracy. This brief illustrates how programmes
supporting researchers at risk are necessary to defend and strengthen democracy
Anti-Semitism at the Intersection of Corruption and Colonialism: Continuities of Political Rhetoric in Romania from the Nineteenth Century to the Interwar Period
Get PDFThe topoi of “corruption” and “colonialism” that emerged in nineteenth-century Romania in connection to infrastructure projects and the anxieties related to the prominence of foreign capital therein converged into an anti-Semitism that acted as a proxy to displace both. Around 1900, an emerging far-right further radicalized this rhetoric, with Alexandru C. Cuza (1857–1947), nicknamed “the patriarch of Romanian anti-Semitism,” representing a conveyor belt between the state-driven institutional anti-Semitism of nineteenth-century Romania and the grassroots version that would become characteristic of interwar Romanian fascism. Drawing on parliamentary debates, press articles, and the numerous pamphlets and scientific publications of the prolific Cuza, this article focuses on his re-fashioning of the nineteenth-century vision of infrastructure projects relying heavily on foreign capital into a nexus for thinking about corruption, colonialism, and anti-Semitism. It argues that Cuza helped to turn economic matters explicitly political, adding to them—in synchronicity with similar developments across Europe—a populist component that ushered in the development of a native fascist movement, for which he acted as a godfather. The interwar legionary movement adapted and radicalized the nineteenth-century nexus that identified Jews as simultaneously responsible for corruption and as agents of colonial powers or colonizers in their own right
Bản Sắc (identity) of Vietnamese Teachers in the Context of Education Reform – A Comparative Study
Get PDFThis comparative study explores the bản sắc (identity) among teachers in the public and
international schools within the context of Vietnam’s education reforms, particularly Resolution 29-
NQ/TW and Decree 86/2018/NĐ-CP. The reform echoes the global education agendas on policies as
it aims to align the national education with international standards. Moreover, the rapid expansion of
international schools in Vietnam (ISC Research, 2025a), have steered the education toward
privatisation, suggesting the perpetuation of neoliberal capitalism in the education landscape. Within
this context, this study explores how teachers perceive themselves, focusing on two research
questions:
How do public school and international school teachers perceive their bản sắc in the
work environment and Vietnamese society?
How has Vietnam’s education reform shaped teachers’ bản sắc?
To stay true to the local experiences, the study uses Vietnamese concept – bản sắc – and study
it as embedded in Vietnamese collectivist values and socialist framework. Drawing on the work of
Wenger (1998, 1999), Erikson (1994), Dewey (1986), Markus and Kitayama (1998), and Phan (2010),
the study situates bản sắc across temporal, social, and spatial domains. It also incorporates the
concepts of multi-membership (Wenger, 1999) and the “New Mestiza” – “multiplicitous self”
(Ortega, 2001, 2016), illustrating how teachers continuously negotiate identity in the work
environment and in Vietnamese society over time.
The study engaged fourteen teachers from international and public schools for one-to-one
semi-structured interviews, followed by a focus group discussion with five participants from both
groups. In addition, observations at public school and international schools took place. All data was
analysed thematically with cross-checking for themes redefining.
As a result of engagement with existing literature and with research participants, this study
proposes a conceptual framework of teacher’s bản sắc. Teacher’s bản sắc is multilayered, constituted
of Vietnamese national identity, bản sắc tập thể (BSTT), bản sắc cá nhân (BSCN), and bản. Notably,
societal expectations for teachers are conceptualised as the typical bản, creating a mould that
influences how teachers conduct and perceive themselves in daily life. For public school teachers,
their bản sắc is shaped by national identity, social hierarchy, social harmony, traditional morality, and
the societal role of teachers. They navigate tensions between personal beliefs and societal
expectations, though some Western influences, such as student-centred practices, are also evident. In
contrast, international school teachers experience a different blend of influences. Their bản sắc is
shaped by Western influences, such as non-hierarchical classroom dynamics, individualism, and
English-language dominance, alongside Vietnamese language use and traditions. Their position is
marked by higher incomes, emphasis on BSCN, and distinct social groupings, yet they often perceive
lower societal standing compared to public school teachers. This group of teachers negotiate a hybrid
bản sắc between the Vietnamese traditions and Western influences.
A key contribution of this study is the emergence a hybridity spectrum of bản sắc, with
multiplicitous self and multi-membership. Teachers’ bản sắc reflect broader dynamics within
Vietnam’s the education landscape where tension arises between neoliberal capitalist principles and
Vietnam’s socialism. The findings demonstrate that teachers do not passively assimilate into Western
influences or neoliberal capitalist framework but instead actively uphold, reinterpret, and reshape the
Vietnamese collectivist and socialist values in response to these influences.
By offering a culturally grounded framework, this research established a nuanced
understanding of Vietnamese teacher identity and challenge the dominant ways in which identity is
understood (i.e., personal agency, autonomy). It also offers insights relevant for future policy and
practice in similar postcolonial contexts
Intelligent Control to Suppress Epileptic Seizures in the Amygdala: In Silico Investigation Using a Network of Izhikevich Neurons
Get PDFClosed-loop electricalstimulation of brain structures is one of the most promising techniques to suppress epileptic seizures in drug-resistant refractory patients who are also ineligible to ablative neurosurgery. In this work, an intelligent controller is presented to block the aberrant activity of a network of Izhikevich neurons of three different types, used here to model the electrical activity of the basolateral amygdala during ictogenesis, i.e. its transition from asynchronous to hypersynchronous state. A Lyapunov-based nonlinear scheme is used as the main framework for the proposed controller. To avoid the issue of accessing each neuron individually, local field potentials are used to gain insight into the overall state of the Izhikevich network. Artificial neural networks are integrated into the control scheme to manage unknown dynamics and disturbances caused by brain electrical activity that are not accounted for in the model. Four different cases of ictogenesis induction were tested. The results show the efficacy of the proposed control strategy to suppress epileptic seizures and suggest its capability to address both patient-specific and patient-to-patient variability