National University of Ireland, Maynooth
MURAL - Maynooth University Research Archive LibraryNot a member yet
18981 research outputs found
Sort by
Factors Associated with PrEP Stigma Among Gay, Bisexual, and Other Men Who Have Sex with Men (gbMSM): A Systematic Review
Get PDFGay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (gbMSM) are disproportionately affected by HIV. While pre-exposure pro-phylaxis (PrEP) is highly effective at preventing HIV acquisition, uptake of PrEP among gbMSM is low, which may in part be due to stigma associated with PrEP use. This systematic review aimed to explore experiences of PrEP stigma and to identify factors associated with this. Four databases were searched for papers including terms relating to (i) gbMSM, (ii) PrEP, and (iii) stigma, with narrative synthesis used to analyze results. After screening, 70 studies were included in the final analysis. Experiences of PrEP stigma were found to be characterized by a number of stereotypes and came from a range of sources. Five categories of factors were associated with stigma: (i) healthcare- related factors, (ii) cultural and contextual factors, (iii) socio-demographic factors, (iv) peer-discussion, and (v) psychosocial factors. These findings suggest that stigma can be a common experience for gbMSM. However, some are more at risk than others. Interventions aimed at reducing PrEP stigma may be useful in increasing uptake
War veterans, minorities and crisis points in Yugoslav welfare
Get PDFThis article provides an analytical overview of welfare policymaking and provision in the twentieth century in Yugoslavia at three deci-sive historical junctures. Those are: the Kingdom of Yugoslavia after the First World War; the socialist state after 1945; and the rump ‘Yugoslavia’ after the break-up of the state in 1991. In each of these periods welfare policies were crisis-driven, a response to massive social and economic upheaval caused by war, but they were also a reflection, of course, of the political ideals and the values of the state in which they were formed. The authors argue that the Yugoslav welfare state in its various incarnations was in part a response to socio-economic crisis caused by war, in part a mediation and an adaptation of the welfare regime it replaced (rather than a complete tabula rasa), and in part an articulation of the aspirations for national politics and citizenship held by the incoming leadership of the state. This comparative study of three important moments in Yugoslavia’s welfare history, then, offers an opportunity to look anew at the social history of the state itself. Study of the Yugoslav welfare model, or rather models, helps us understand the larger political transformations that were bound up in the lifespan of the South Slav state, how the state thought about and created minorities through welfare regimes, and how welfare policies withstood (or not) socio-economic crisis
Long-Term Evolution of Significant Wave Height in the Eastern Tropical Atlantic between 1940 and 2022 Using the ERA5 Dataset
Get PDFStudies on the variability in ocean wave climate provide engineers and policy makers with information to plan, develop, and control coastal and offshore activities. Ocean waves bear climatic imprints through which the global climate system can be better understood. Using the recently updated ERA5 dataset, this study evaluated the spatiotemporal distribution and variability in significant wave height (SWH) in the Eastern Tropical Atlantic (ETA). The short-term trends and rates of change were obtained using the Mann–Kendall trend test and the Theil–Sen slope estimator, respectively, and decadal trends were assessed using wavelet transformation. Significant, positive monthly and yearly trends and a prevailing decadal trend were observed across the domain.
Observed trends suggest that stronger waves are getting closer to the coast and are modulated by the Southern and Northern Atlantic mid-latitude storm fields. These observations have implications for the increasing coastal erosion rates on the eastern coast of the Tropical Atlanti
The mental health needs of social work students: findings from an Irish survey
Get PDFIt is important to consider the mental health of social work students
to promote their wellbeing and to ensure they are prepared for the
potential stressors of practice. This cross-sectional survey of social
work students (n = 240), the first of its kind on the island of Ireland,
provides findings on mental health and a range of associated issues
which can help to improve student welfare; the content of social
work courses; social work practice; and so, outcomes for service
users. The article discusses implications for the delivery of social
work education internationally
Stochastic Geometry-Based Trajectory Design for Multi-Purpose UAVs: Package and Data Delivery
Get PDFWith the advancements achieved in drones’ flexibility,
low cost, and high efficiency, they obtain huge application opportunities in various industries, such as aerial delivery and future
communication networks. However, the increasing transportation
needs and expansion of network capacity demands for UAVs will
cause aerial traffic conflicts in the future. To address this issue, in
this article, we explore the idea of multi-purpose UAVs, which act
as aerial wireless communication data relays and means of aerial
transportation simultaneously to deliver data and packages at the
same time. While UAVs deliver the packages from warehouses to
residential areas, we design their trajectories which enable them
to collect data from multiple Internet of Things (IoT) clusters and
forward the collected data to terrestrial base stations (TBSs). To
select the serving nearby IoT clusters, UAVs rank them based
on their priorities and distances. From the perspectives of data
and package delivery, respectively, we propose two algorithms that
design the optimal UAVs trajectory to maximize the transmitted
data or minimize the round trip time. Specifically, we use tools
from stochastic geometry to model the locations of IoT clusters
and TBSs. Given the nature of random locations, the proposed
algorithm applies to general cases. Our numerical results show
that multi-purpose UAVs are practical and have great potential to
enhance the energy/time-efficiency of future networks
Spatio-temporal characteristics of Heat stress over Nigeria using evaluated ERA5-HEAT reanalysis data
Get PDFNigeria’s growing population faces an increasing heat burden with potential health risks. The Universal Thermal
Comfort Index (UTCI) links outdoor conditions and human well-being but lacks comprehensive insitu data in
developing regions like Nigeria. ERA5-HEAT reanalysis offers a solution with gridded UTCI and MRT data, but
validation is crucial. Thus, this study evaluates the ERA5-HEAT UTCI against data from nine Nigerian weather
stations and analysed the spatio-temporal patterns of heat stress trends. Results showed that ERA5-HEAT
demonstrated reasonable statistical performance and captured the temporal characteristics and patterns of
UTCI across Nigeria’s climatic zones. Seasonal variations show heat stress levels from "slightly cold" to "moderate" at 0600 LST and "moderate" to "very strong" at 1500 LST. Geographical consistency exists within each
season over the decades, with a critical "very strong" heat stress period during March-May. Additionally, there
has been an increasing spatial expansion of areas experiencing higher heat stress levels across the country.
Latitudinally, stable patterns exist across decades at 0600 LST for each season. Seasons show distinct UTCI
values, and at 1500 LST, more variability and category transitions occur along latitudes. Furthermore, the results
indicate significant positive trends and occasional non-significant negative trends over the 40-year period.
Notably, during 0600 LST, the Guinea and Sahel regions exhibit relatively higher positive trends than the Sudan
region in all seasons, whereas at 1500 LST, high positive trends are prominent in DJF and MAM seasons, indicating increased heat stress during peak seasons. These positive deviations in UTCI are associated with adverse
effects on human health, including increased mortality rate
A qualitative interview study to determine barriers and facilitators of implementing automated decision support tools for genomic data access
Get PDFData access committees (DAC) gatekeep access to secured genomic and related health datasets yet are challenged to keep pace with the rising volume and complexity of data generation. Automated decision support (ADS) systems have been shown to support consistency, compliance, and coordination of data access review decisions. However, we lack understanding of how DAC members perceive the value add of ADS, if any, on the quality and effectiveness of their reviews. In this qualitative study, we report findings from 13 semi-structured interviews with DAC members from around the world to identify relevant barriers and facilitators to implementing ADS for genomic data access management. Participants generally supported pilot studies that test ADS performance, for example in cataloging data types, verifying user credentials and tagging datasets for use terms. Concerns related to over-automation, lack of human oversight, low prioritization, and misalignment with institutional missions tempered enthusiasm for ADS among the DAC members we engaged. Tensions for change in institutional settings within which DACs operated was a powerful motivator for why DAC members considered the implementation of ADS into their access workflows, as well as perceptions of the relative advantage of ADS over the status quo. Future research is needed to build the evidence base around the comparative effectiveness and decisional outcomes of institutions that do/not use ADS into their workflows
The accurate digitization of historical sea level records
Get PDFUnderstanding regional sea level variations is crucial for assessing coastal vulnerability, with accurate sea level data playing a pivotal role. Utilizing historical sea level marigrams can enhance datasets, but current digitization techniques face challenges such as bends and skews in paper charts, impacting sea level values. This study explores often-overlooked issues during marigram digitization,focusing on the case study of Dún Laoghaire in Ireland (1925–1931). The methodology involves digitizing the original marigram trace and underlying grid to assess offsets at the nearest ft (foot) interval on the paper chart, corresponding to changes in the water level trace for each hour interval. Subtracting the digitized value from the known value (the actual measurement) allows for the determination of differences, which are then subtracted from each hourly trace value. After adjusting for offsets ranging from −3.962 to 13.716 mm (millimetres), the study improves the final accuracy of sea level data to approximately the 10 mm level. Notably, data from 1926 and 1931 exhibit modest offsets (9–14 mm), emphasizing the importance of adjustments for accuracy. Such 10 mm accuracy is compatible with requirements of the Global Sea Level Observing System. Comparing the adjusted digitized data with other survey data shows similar amplitudes and phases for Dún Laoghaire in both the historical and modern datasets, and there is an overall mean sea level rise of 1.5 mm/year when combined with the available data from the Dublin regio
Geography’s relevance debates and new forms of scholar policy activism
Get PDFIn the context of class and culture wars over the social purpose of the university, it is time to revisit a pivotal question: to whom is the discipline of geography accountable and for what? In the spirit of looking back to look forward, we wonder to what extent and in what ways historiographies of geography that critically interrogate geographers' statements on the discipline's social mission might help and guide us at this hour? Specifically, we work to extract added value from the so-called relevance debates which animated anglophone geography in the 1970s. Characterising the present historical conjuncture as a Gramscian moment of interregnum when the ‘old is dying and the new cannot be born’, we tender the provocation that it is the responsibility of geographers to advance the cause of a ‘progressive populism’. To prosecute this public mission, it will be necessary to recentre the discipline around the figure of the geographer as scholar policy activist, immersed in and a progenitor of a vigilant, contestatory democracy. We conclude that whilst the relevance debates failed to theorise, codify, professionalise and valorise such an academic identity, these debates did bequeath logics and legacies that can fast track this work now
Teaching for the future: restorative legal professionals require a restorative education
Get PDFI am a non-lawyer who has never read for a degree in law, but has always studied
and lectured in a School of Law, initially at the University of Leeds (UK), where I
studied for my undergraduate degree, master’s degree and PhD in criminology, and
now at Maynooth University in Ireland. This gives me some sense of legal education,
because I always studied alongside law students, and I mostly lecture to mixed
groups of law and criminology students. I also taught criminology and criminal
justice to lawyers at an advanced level for many years.
Where I now teach in Ireland, our legal education is perhaps unconventional.
First, most of our law undergraduate students do not exclusively read law. Many
instead study a three-year Bachelor of Civil Law: a qualifying law degree with a
major or minor in criminology, business, accounting, a language, or another social
science or humanity (‘Law and Arts’). Second, people who study ‘straight’ law (the
LLB) undertake a four-year course, combining the professionally required subjects
with comparative, socio-legal and technologically oriented module