National University of Ireland, Maynooth
MURAL - Maynooth University Research Archive LibraryNot a member yet
18981 research outputs found
Sort by
Unearthing the Transformative Power of Literacy Pedagogies: A Comparative Contextual Analysis of African and Irish Footsteps to Enhance Mozambican Adult Literacy Programmes.
Get PDFThis Master's thesis explores into the unique educational landscapes of Ireland and Mozambique through a comparative analysis of literacy programs in both nations to promote active citizenship. While Mozambique, in its developmental journey, stands in contrast to Ireland, both are ex-colonized countries with educational systems positioned in different historical contexts and levels of development. Despite these, a shared commitment to global educational objectives, as outlined in UNICEF's 17 Sustainable Development Goals, particularly the goal of providing quality education for all, unites these two nations.
Through the lens of a Mozambican educator studying in Ireland, this study seeks to explore the transformative potential of adult literacy in enhancing critical thinking skills among citizens, enabling them to actively engage in addressing community challenges such as poverty and injustices. Drawing inspiration from historical insights and contemporary trends in adult education, the thesis highlights the pivotal role of literacy education in combating social inequalities and empowering communities towards social transformations beyond basic literacy skills.
Aligned with the philosophies of influential figures like Paulo Freire and pan-African pioneers like Julius Nyerere and Luis Cabral, the research also underscores the intricate connection between education, politics, and citizenship, emphasizing the need to address systemic issues impeding education and employment opportunities within Mozambican communities. By re-evaluating the concept of active citizenship and drawing from the wisdom of scholars like Marshal, Gaventa, and Gramsci, this study aims to spark a renaissance in community engagement and literacy education, urging individuals to play an active role in reshaping their societal features
Cultural Policies That Facilitate the Participation of Persons with Disabilities in the Arts: Findings from a Qualitative Multi-National Study
Get PDFArts and culture are central to the political struggles of people with disabilities and have the potential to transform how societies relate to disability and to realize the human rights model of disability enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Yet, low levels of participation in arts by people with disabilities are reported in many countries. We also lack research to support policy making that promotes positive measures. This article presents some of the findings from a large qualitative study across 28 European countries addressing factors perceived as facilitative of cultural participation by people representing organizations of people with disabilities. Identifying these factors is a step in supporting the deployment of policies aiming to end the exclusion of people with disabilities from the cultural sphere both as audiences and artists and to realize the human rights model of disability. In particular, findings point to the need to change the knowledge base and ethos of cultural bodies and to reform, amongst other issues, funding mechanisms, governance structures, and consultation processes. We argue that making disability inclusion more intrinsic to cultural policy has the potential to enhance diversity and ultimately to foster the participation of people with disabilities in society more broadly
VR Sports Games: An Overview
Get PDFThis article provides an overview of the history of VR sports games and offers insights into the interaction and integration between real-world sporting events and VR games. Additionally, it reveals the challenges associated with VR gaming technology and VR sports games. Overall, motion-control based VR sports games blur the lines between the virtual and real sport, providing new options for participating in sports, fitness activities and competitions. They offer opportunities for individuals to explore and learn sports that may have been inaccessible to them otherwise. Furthermore, VR sports games have been increasingly integrated into international sporting events, paving the way for a new direction in the future development of both sports and video games. As computer and information technology advances, VR sports video games are creating innovative avenues for entertainment, physical exercise and sports competition
Long-Term Evolution of Significant Wave Height in the EasternTropical 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 Atlantic
Unearthing the coloniality of neoliberalised curricular discourses to promote a public orientation towards secondary science education
Get PDFConsidering the challenges facing curricula in science education forces a reckoning with neoliberalism and its transmogrification of education, generally. Science, which has contributed significantly to humanity, is exalted in neoliberal secular discourse and forms a key pillar of social policy governance. However, the progress and innovation attributed to scientific education, within the broader STEM agenda, must be read against the rise in societal inequalities wrought by far-right hostilities and the general erosion of democratic principles in the milieu of neoliberal policy making. This is especially prescient for science curricula given the widespread crystallisation of scientism in society and its role in framing anti-equality arguments. This must also be situated against the broad resistance movements that have arisen, demonstrating the resilience and promise from alternative perspectives such as decoloniality. While decolonial theory reckons with the epistemological violence of science, these perspectives remain underdiscussed in STEM fields. This is necessary for contemporary science curricula given the broader neoliberal erosions of public education that champion instrumentalism and mass measurement in the name of capitalism. This forms the impetus for this conceptual article which presents a decolonial consideration of recent curricular discourses in science
Not a set of norms or a set of practices
Get PDFIn this paper, we consider the 'eliminativist' character of Hershovitz's non-positivist theory. Focusing on chapter 5 of Law Is A Moral Practice, we ask whether Hershovitz's theory takes full advantage of the explanatory advantages of viewing non-positivism in explicitly eliminativist terms
Book review: Transnational Narratives and Regulation of GMO Risks
Get PDFThe abstract is included in the text
A Digital Model for the Prologue Voltage Control Filter
Get PDFThe Prologue polyphonic synthesizer features a voltage control filter (VCF) employing an
original topology. This paper examines its circuit and extracts a flowchart, which yields a set
of analog filter equations. From these, the authors were able to develop a transfer function to
describe its ideal linear time-invariant form. Then a linear digital version of the filter to validate
the analysis was put forward. Noting that the filter operation within the synthesizer is fairly
nonlinear, modifications yielding a nonlinear model of the VCF are proposed. These were
compared with the outputs of the original analog filter, and it was found that they approximate
them consistently
Investigation and analysis of demand response approaches, bottlenecks, and future potential capabilities for IoT‐enabled smart grid
Get PDFSignificant attempts have been made to make the electrical grid more intelligent and responsive to better meet customers' requirements while boosting the stability and efficiency of current power systems. Smart grid technologies, which have just recently emerged, facilitated the incorporation of demand response (DR) by introducing an information and communication backbone to the current system. The Internet of Things (IoT) has emerged as a key technology for smart energy grids. Security concerns have emerged as a major obstacle to the widespread adoption of IoT‐enabled devices because of the inherent Internet connectivity of these smart gadgets. Therefore, security is a crucial factor to address before the widespread implementation of IoT‐based devices in power grids. In this study, the framework and architecture of smart grids that are enabled by the IoT are first examined. Then, the role of IoT for DR in smart grids and different approaches adopted worldwide to make DR schemes more effective, have been discussed in detail. Finally, the authors discuss how IoT‐enabled smart grids can benefit from cutting‐edge solutions and technologies that make them more secure and resistant to cyber and physical attacks
On the expanded repertoire of fungal siderophore utilisation following chemoderivatisation.
No full textDue to a lack of novel antimicrobial development amongst other issues, antimicrobial
resistance (AMR) has been flagged as one of the major threats to human health by the
World Health Organisation. For Aspergillus fumigatus, a lack of specific and sensitive
diagnostic assays increases the risk of the pathogen further. This thesis poses that the
chemoderivatisation of siderophores, iron chelating molecules produced by
microorganisms in response to iron starvation, could be used to develop novel
antimicrobial treatments and diagnostic assays. Siderophore Trojan horse molecules
are known to improve the uptake of antimicrobial compounds. An A. fumigatus
secondary metabolite, gliotoxin (GT) is known to be an antimicrobial toxin, but is also
cytotoxic. GT was modified and conjugated to an A. fumigatus siderophore,
diacetylfusarinine C (FeDAFC), for use as an antimicrobial. A. fumigatus siderophores
were further exploited for their diagnostic potential. Ferricrocin (FeFC) was used as a
hapten and conjugated to a carrier-protein for immunisation. The resulting antisera
was screened for antibodies against FeFC. Antibodies previously developed against
Triacetylfusarinine C (FeTAFC) using a hapten immunogen strategy were used to
develop a one-step ELISA for the detection of FeTAFC in urine, with high specificity.
This antibody was then shown to have antifungal properties against A. fumigatus due
to the binding of FeTAFC, which is essential for its growth and virulence, preventing
uptake of the siderophore. A recombinant esterase, rEstB, for the breakdown of
FeTAFC was produced and shown to have activity against FeTAFC, with the hope of
development as a crop antimicrobial. Finally, a plant derived compound, celastrol,
which has been linked to preventing the production of A. fumigatus siderophores, with
coincubation with the novel compound ADL2022, was shown to have antimicrobial
effects even under iron-replete conditions and to have a significant impact on the
proteome of A. fumigatus