Biomarker profiling in triple-negative breast cancer

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is defined as breast cancer (BC) with an absence of oestrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) by immunohistochemistry (IHC). TNBC comprises up to 20% of all sporadic BCs. TNBC is a heterogeneous group of tumours with various distinct subtypes, each characterized by distinct genetic profiles, morphologies, and clinical courses. Patients with TNBC often present at a more advanced stage, with high risk of early relapse and poorer survival than non-TNBC subtypes. Attainment of a pCR is more common in TNBC and HER2-positive BC than in ER-positive BC, with the most significant association between pCR and survival observed in these aggressive subtypes. The role of immunotherapy in the treatment of early TNBC is evolving and is being evaluated in several clinical trials. Recent trials have shown that patients with TNBC may benefit from targeted immunotherapy – programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) and programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) – especially in tumours with high levels of tumour infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and PD-L1 overexpression. Expression of human endogenous retrovirus K (HERV-K) envelope protein (env) has been shown to be disproportionately increased in TNBC and is associated with poor outcome. The aims of this work are to investigate the prognostic value of several biomarkers including TILs, PD-L1 and HERV-K in TNBC, with respect to disease-free survival (DFS), metastasis-free survival (MFS), breast cancer-specific survival (BCSS) and pathological complete response (pCR) rates for patients diagnosed with TNBC at Galway University Hospitals (GUH) over a 20-year period

MuRelSGG: Multimodal relationship prediction for neurosymbolic scene graph generation

Neurosymbolic Scene Graph Generation (SGG) is a promising approach that jointly leverages the perception capabilities of deep neural networks and the reasoning capabilities of symbolic techniques for scene understanding and visual reasoning. SGG systematically captures semantic components, including objects and their relationships, in images, enabling structured representations of visual data. However, existing SGG methods exhibit constrained accuracy and limited expressiveness, particularly in long-tail relationship prediction. To address these limitations, we present MuRelSGG, a novel neurosymbolic SGG framework that integrates a Transformer-based multimodal relationship prediction pipeline with common sense knowledge enrichment. This synergistic combination encapsulates global context, long-range dependencies, and complex object interactions to enhance relationship prediction in SGG. The proposed neurosymbolic architecture begins with object detection via Faster R-CNN, followed by a cascade of Multi-Head Attention Transformers (M-HAT) and Vision Transformers (ViT) for relationship prediction. Subsequently, CSKG enrichment refines and augments visual relationships, improving both accuracy and expressiveness. We conduct extensive evaluations on both the Visual Genome (VG) and GQA datasets to assess performance and generalizability. MuRelSGG achieves substantial gains in recall rates (VG: R@ 100=43.2 , mR@ 100=14.9 ; GQA: R@ 100=42.1 ), outperforming state-of-the-art SGG techniques. Ablation studies confirm the critical contributions of M-HAT, ViT, linguistic features, CSKG enrichment and embedding similarity thresholds, demonstrating the effectiveness of structured knowledge integration for long-tail relationship prediction. These findings underscore the potential of combining deep learning architectures with structured knowledge bases to advance visual scene representation and reasoning

Teanga gan teorainn? Léargas ar ról na gcoláistí Gaeilge i ngluaiseacht teanga chúige Uladh sna 1920í & 1930í

In 2024, bhí 120 bliain slánaithe ag na Coláistí Gaeilge ón lá a osclaíodh an chéad Choláiste i gCorcaigh in 1904. Cé go bhfuil cuimhní ar leith ag glúnta éagsúla d’Éireannaigh ar a bheith ag freastal ar chúrsaí sna Coláistí gach samhradh ó shin, is beag atá ar eolas i gcoitinne go fóill faoi stair fhada na n-institiúidí sin. Is iad Nollaig Mac Congáil agus Seán Ó Coigligh na húdair is mó go dtí seo atá tar éis scéal na gColáistí Gaeilge i mblianta luatha na hAthbheochana a insint. Tá ocht gcinn d’ailt scríofa ag Nollaig Mac Congáil ar ghnéithe éagsúla de stair na gColáistí Gaeilge. Sa chomhthéacs Ultach, tá ailt scríofa aige ar Choláiste Chomhghaill, Béal Feirste, ar Choláiste Uladh, Cloch Cheann Fhaolaidh, Tír Chonaill agus ar Choláiste na gCeithre Máistrí, Leitir Ceanainn, Tír Chonaill. Is é tráchtas Sheáin Uí Choigligh, Na Coláistí Gaeilge mar ghné d’Athbheochan na Gaeilge, 1904–1912, an saothar is iomláine go dtí seo ar luathstair agus ar chomhthéacs oideachasúil na gColáistí Gaeilge. Seachas sin, áfach, is in ailt agus i leabhair fhánacha a fhaightear eolas ar ghnéithe éagsúla d’obair na gColáistí thar na blianta, agus is annamh freisin a fheictear trácht ar ról na gColáistí agus mórimeachtaí staire an 20ú haois á bplé ag scoláirí. In 2025, tá os cionn 100 bliain caite ó Chríochdheighilt na hÉireann in 1921, agus ó cruthaíodh dhá chóras oideachais éagsúla sa tír seo in 1922 — nithe a chuaigh go mór i bhfeidhm ar stair na tíre agus ar ghluaiseacht na teanga ach go háirithe. Ina ainneoin sin, áfach, níl ann do shaothar acadúil go fóill a thugann faoi ról na gColáistí Gaeilge sna himeachtaí sin a mheas. Cuireann an t-alt seo roimhe, mar sin, léargas a thabhairt ar luach na gColáistí Gaeilge do ghluaiseacht na teanga i gCúige Uladh sna blianta luatha i ndiaidh na Críochdheighilte sna 1920í agus 1930í. Díreofar ar Rann na Feirste i dTír Chonaill mar chás-staidéar a thugann léargas ar leith dúinn ar thábhacht na gColáistí maidir le forbairt agus buanú Ghaeilge Uladh ar an dá thaobh den teorainn a scar an cúige in 1921

听·见·韵 Hearing Rhythm, Seeing Rhythm: How can traditional ‘rules of rhythm’ in Chinese aesthetics be applied across contemporary creative practices in acoustic-visual space.

Throughout the history of China, from the early dynasties to contemporary times, in the traditional Chinese aesthetic system, aspects of the integration of poetry, painting and calligraphy have been grounded in varied but deeply connected ‘rules of rhythm’. These ‘rules of rhythm’ permeate in diverse yet identifiable and recognisable forms. The research in this project aims to both adopt and adapt these rhythmic rules or sonic patterns from traditional poetry and lyrics in an experimental form that reimagines a tradition of ‘lyric aesthetics’ in the context of the contemporary interplay between sound and imagery. In this sense, this investigation is at once one of ‘reclamation’ and extension. The fundamental ‘question’ of these experiments is whether it is possible to represent the sonic patterns themselves, that is, to present the rhythmic cadence of sound by visualising and ‘multisensoryising’ sound structures. The focus of the thesis is on the historical establishment of the methodological approach, which is then transformed/translated into possible combinations through the integration of sound and imagery. As a particular attribute of Chinese expression and a specific part of the fundamental structures of the ancient language that is still in use today, these ‘rules’ or forms are cultural traits that have endured through many centuries and challenges, and more importantly in this case, can be (re)iterated in dynamic, fluid, and revitalised contemporary artistic configurations that aim at seeing sound, writing sound, performing rhythm. At the same time, it explores the possibility of reclaiming pre-modern history and traditional culture through the contemporary expression of rhythmic rules, as well as the feasibility of using contemporary integrated sonic-visual or multimedia artistic expression as a ‘medium’ to reimagine contemporary Chinese artistic expression from a Chinese perspective

In-situ quality monitoring during embedded bioprinting using integrated microscopy and classical computer vision

Despite significant advances in bioprinting technology, current hardware platforms lack the capability for process monitoring and quality control. This limitation hampers the translation of the technology into industrial GMP-compliant manufacturing settings. As a key step towards a solution, we developed a novel bioprinting platform integrating a high-resolution camera for in-situ monitoring of extrusion outcomes during embedded bioprinting. Leveraging classical computer vision and image analysis techniques, we then created a custom software module for assessing print quality. This module enables quantitative comparison of printer outputs to input points of the CAD model’s 2D projections, measuring area and positional accuracy. To showcase the platform's capabilities, we then investigated compatibility with various bioinks, dyes, and support bath materials for both 2D and 3D print path trajectories. In addition, we performed a detailed study on how the rheological properties of granular support hydrogels impact print quality during embedded bioprinting, illustrating a practical application of the platform. Our results demonstrated that lower viscosity, faster thixotropy recovery, and smaller particle sizes significantly enhance print fidelity. This novel bioprinting platform, equipped with integrated process monitoring, holds great potential for establishing auditable and more reproducible biofabrication processes for industrial applications.This publication has emanated from research conducted with the financial support of the EU Commission Recovery and Resilience Facility under the Research Ireland Future Digital Challenge Grant Numbers 22/NCF/FD/10991. This publication has also emanated from research supported in part by a grant from Research Ireland and is co-funded under the European Regional Development Fund under Grant Numbers 13/RC/2073_P2

A clinical investigation of hip implant migration and wear

The prediction of survival rate probability for hip implants, based on clinical data acquired before and after surgery, incorporating patient-specific parameters, represents a pivotal advancement in enabling more precise risk assessment for potential complications, such as aseptic loosening and implant wear-related inflammation, on an individualized basis. This critical step marks a substantial progression toward the realization of digitized and personalized medicine. The objective of this study was to establish prediction aiding correlations between implant wear and migration data, derived from X-ray imaging of 149 patients diagnosed with hip arthritis, and the performance of hip implants. The patients underwent cementless hip replacement surgery, receiving implants consisting of ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) paired with titanium-aluminum-vanadium (Ti6Al4V) wedges. Over the course of a median follow-up period of 4 years, X-ray assessments were conducted to monitor the migration of the femoral head and acetabular components using Ein Bild Röntgen Analyse (EBRA). Clinical findings revealed a linear relationship between average migration and wear. Notably, it was observed that increased cup migration corresponded proportionally to greater wear values. Furthermore, in-depth analysis revealed significant distinctions based on gender and age. Specifically, the established relationship can confidently serve as a reliable predictive model for the behavior of hip implants in female subjects and individuals aged 50–60 years

Advanced structural testing and modelling of a novel full-scale helical shape tidal turbine foil

The utilisation of tidal energy holds significant promise for sustainable power generation, particularly in regions with tidal resources. In this context, tidal energy sector is targeting to develop innovative tidal energy systems for tidal potential sites and rivers to enhance the green power generation and achieve United Nation’s sustainable development goals. However, ensuring the structural integrity of tidal turbine components, particularly the blades, is key for their effective operation, as blades play a pivotal role in determining the system's performance, lifetime, reliability, and efficiency. Therefore, the research aims to assess the structural integrity of a 5 m long crossflow helical tidal turbine foil, featuring a 1.8 m rotor and three foils designed to generate 40 kW, through structural testing and numerical modelling. The testing procedures adhere to DNVGL-ST-0164 and IEC DTS 62600–3:2020 standards, encompassing dynamic, static, fatigue, and residual strength assessments. A unique testing set up and testing protocol were followed to undertake the structural testing program for this innovative tidal foil compared to the commonly used horizontal axis tidal turbine blades. During the testing programme, the foil underwent 1,300,000 fatigue cycles, which is the highest number of fatigue cycles recorded on a tidal turbine blade in dry laboratory conditions, and, in the final static testing stage, the foil sustained damage at 110 % of the idealised full loading condition. A numerical model, based on the finite element method, of the foil has been initially developed using material properties from test coupons and datasheets. This model was then improved by using the mechanical properties obtained from coupons extracted from the foil after testing, however only a slight difference in the two models was observed. A comprehensive assessment of all the test results and selected numerical studies validated the novel design of the tidal foil, while developing a knowledge base to accelerate the structural testing programs of tidal turbine blades, has been presented. This paper also highlights the utilisation of modern tools and adaptations in testing methodologies to accommodate diverse design variations, thus mitigating industry risks for potential low tide and river deployments in the future.Grateful acknowledgment is extended for the financial support received for this work, encompassing funding from the European Commission under the H2020 CRIMSON project (Grant Agreement no.: 971209) and the TIDAL-GES project of the University of Galway Global Challenges Programme. Furthermore, gratitude is expressed for the financing by the MaREI Research Ireland Centre for Energy, Climate and Marine, which is funded by Taighde Éireann–Research Ireland, formerly Science Foundation Ireland, (Grant no. 12/RC/2302_2), the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (Grant no. 22/RDD/783 and 23/RDD/917) and the Marine Institute, funded under the Marine Research Programme by the Government of Ireland (PDOC/21/03/01). Moreover, it is essential to convey appreciation for the invaluable support extended by the industry partners, ORPC and ÉireComposites

Does anyone still want to go to lectures? Student perceptions of the face-to-face lecture in an Irish university

Lectures have been part of the University tradition for centuries and remain an integral part of Higher Education in Ireland. However, in recent years the place of the lecture has been questioned, particularly in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study conducted amongst Arts students in the University of Galway sought to establish whether students still valued the face-to-face lecture as part of their University education, and how they felt this learning experience could be enhanced for them in the future. The study revealed a very clear desire amongst students to maintain the face-to-face lecture as a feature of their University education. The reasons cited are related overwhelmingly to the opportunities afforded by the lecture as a social space. Students expressed a strong desire to be able to interact within the large lecture but our findings also showed that students wish to be able to do this in a ‘safe' way. Tools such as the Vevox polling tool were cited as mechanisms to facilitate ‘safe’ participation in the lecture and to comfortably share their opinions and ideas. Above all, our study highlights that future research needs to focus more on developing face-to-face lecture as a safe interactive social space

Is youth mentoring beneficial for child and adolescent mental health service users? A multi-stakeholder perspective

Background Internationally, the number of young people who experience significant mental health issues is increasing. It is argued that flexible, community-based initiatives can help support mental health services to address the mental health needs of young people. Youth mentoring is a community-based model, which has been found to act as a supportive resource for vulnerable and at-risk youth. Objective This research examines the benefits and challenges associated with the provision of mentoring within a youth mental health context. The study explores the rationale guiding the partnership between a community-based mentoring organisation and child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) in Ireland, and identifies key practice considerations. Method 40 participants involved with the partnership took part in semi-structured qualitative interviews, which were analysed using a thematic analytic approach. Results Mentoring was viewed as a means of providing relaxed, informal, friendships that could help the young person to socialise more, strengthen their social skills, and become more integrated into their communities. Positive changes in social and emotional well-being were observed among participating youth. Practical challenges included delays in matching young people with mentors and communication issues. Conclusions Findings have relevance for researchers and practitioners interested in the integration of community-based and statutory mental health services, as they indicate that youth mentoring can act as a supportive resource for youth who experience mental health difficulties. Findings also provide insights into the processes that may support/hinder the effectiveness and acceptability of mentoring within a context mental health, which can help inform best practice guidelines. Similar content being viewed by othersOpen Access funding provided by the IReL Consortium. This research was funded by the Health Service Executive

Development, production, and prediction of fibroin-based degradable implants

Silk fibroin is a protein extracted from silk that exhibits excellent biocompatibility, high mechanical properties, while also being bioabsorbable, which makes it an excellent candidate as a sustainable constituent material of biomedical devices. However, the use of silk fibroin as an implantable material remains limited due to distinct challenges that are encountered during its processing phase, particularly in industrial setting where reproducibility remains an issue and it can be difficult to produce complex structures. Indeed, several methods have been proposed to fabricate silk fibroin components, among which dip-coating is particularly promising given its versatility and scalability. Using a dip-coating process, there is potential to develop new techniques to obtain stand-alone silk fibroin structures, which could be applied for different scopes in the biomedical field. However, there is a general lack of understanding of the adhesion mechanisms of silk fibroin during dip-coating and distinct challenges during post-processing steps when trying to isolate the material from the underlying substrate, which usually is performed with the use of additional surfactants possibly impacting the mechanical properties of the structures obtained. The objective of this thesis is to investigate dip-coating techniques as a scalable process for the production of silk fibroin coatings and stand-alone devices, in the form of tubular structures that have potential application in endoluminal settings. Furthermore, a computational model able to describe the phenomenon of enzymatic degradation is developed to aid in the design process. In this thesis, a dip-coating layer-by-layer deposition technique is used firstly to investigate the adhesion properties of aqueous silk fibroin to different metallic substrates. The dip-coating process is then optimised and several technical strategies are established to coat irregular medical implants specimens on both hard and soft substrates for dentistry and hernia applications, respectively. The silk-fibroin dip-coating process is then further exploited to enable the production of stand-alone tubular structures for endoluminal applications. This technique involves a multi-layer deposition process on Teflon mandrels and uses an innovative removal process based on water vapor annealing, which offers the possibility of combining the dip-coated layer to other processing techniques or to additional materials. The process is upscaled and applied to applications in the fields of biliary and oesophageal stenting, and the process is further optimised to produce vascular grafts with higher mechanical compliance by the combination of silk fibroin and elastin-like recombinamers (ELRs). Finally, a computational finite-element model was implemented to describe the different steps that characterise the enzymatic degradation of silk fibroin in a scaffold structure. The results showed that dip-coating achieved tightly adhered silk fibroin coatings on both magnesium and titanium substrates and highlighted that the coating adhesion strength was not only dependent on the roughness of the substrate, but also on other material properties such as hydrophilicity and electrode potential. The dip-coating technique also proved effective in coating several medical devices, with the process achieving a barrier layer or an open-porous structure depending on the requirements of the specific application. By applying the technique to Teflon substrates, reproducible and homogeneous tubular structures were obtained for endoluminal applications. In this work, it was shown that by the combination with an electrospun layer the silk fibroin devices were promising for biliary stenting applications, while the integration with a magnesium braided stent allowed to achieve a fully resorbable oesophageal stent. The dip-coating technique was also successful in obtaining, in a single-step, a double network between silk fibroin and ELRs. This enabled, for the first time, the production of silk-fibroin and ELR structures through dip-coating, with extensive mechanical testing demonstrating that this device fulfilled the requirements of mechanical stability and compliance, needed by small-diameter vascular grafts. Finally, the computational model considering the enzymatic degradation correctly predicted the mass loss of silk fibroin scaffolds both in vitro and in vivo, revealing important considerations for the device design. Overall, this thesis provides significant technical advances and enhances the scientific understanding of the mechanical behaviour of dip-coated silk fibroin-based devices, which could see their more widespread implementation and further research in this area