Buttering up the British: Irish Exports and the Tourist Gaze

This paper argues that the advertising of Irish exports in the 1960s provided for their consumers a form of ‘tourism without travel’. (1) This concept is borrowed from Mark McGovern, who uses it to describe the experience of the consumer of the ‘Irish pub experience’ in his article ‘”The cracked pint glass of the servant”: the Irish pub, Irish identity and the tourist eye’ in Michael Cronin and Barbara O’Connor (eds) Irish tourism: image, culture, and identity. Clevedon; Buffalo, N.Y.: Channel View Publications, 2003 In particular, Kerrygold butter acted as an especially authentic souvenir of Ireland because it was, as the ads still claim today, ‘made of Ireland’

Critical Thinking, Critical Theory: Cross-School First Year Module in Critical Analysis

The objective of the project was threefold. Firstly, to propose a first year module entitled “Developing Critical Skills”, to be available across Technological University Dublin (DIT), which would promote, through the analysis of cultural artefacts, the analytical and rhetorical skills of first year students across different disciplines. Secondly, to test and evaluate appropriate assessment procedures for such a module. Thirdly, to explore innovative methods of curriculum design process for interdisciplinary learning. The anticipated benefits of such a module were originally imagined to be the development of students who would possess critical competences with broad application, who would be reflective and analytical, and who would develop awareness of the public responsibilities of knowledge. Further to this, the authors hoped to encourage a greater understanding among students of the value and complexity of culture, cross-disciplinary cooperation among staff teaching the module, and to consolidate the benefits of the modular system within the DIT

Designing modern Ireland: the role of graphic design in the construction of modern Ireland at home and abroad (1949-1979)

As the modernising Irish state sought to project a positive image of post-war Ireland, a paradox emerged: how could the symbolism of national distinctiveness (heretofore synonymous with the past) be reconciled with modernity? This thesis outlines the role which graphic design played in attempts to resolve tensions between the national and the modern. The thesis examines how design was mobilised as a symbol and agent of modernisation in Ireland in the run-up to and immediate aftermath of the 1958 ‘Programme for Economic Expansion’, widely considered to be the manifestation of an explicit state-led programme of modernisation. It examines the gradual replacement of the outward symbols of Republican Nationalism with a pervasive symbolism of modern efficiency, suggesting that this was a visual manifestation of the drive towards ‘organisation’ and rational management that gripped the civil service. It examines the paradoxical situation whereby designers in Ireland sought to present themselves and the nation as modern and professional, while the Irish Trade Board (charged with both design and export promotion) looked to professional designers abroad to present Ireland and her exports as traditional. Central to this discussion is the critique by designers (particularly those associated with Ireland’s first professional body, the Institute of Creative Advertising and Design) of so-called ‘Stage Irish’ versions of national image-making. An examination of their work and writings provides evidence for a series of alternative visual strategies for being Irish and modern —often quoting Celtic and early-Christian artefacts in otherwise modernist settings— which I have termed ‘Celtic modernism.’ From the early 1950s onwards, debates over ‘tradition’ and ‘modernisation’ were given visible form in the contentious issue of which letterform to use for the Irish language: ‘roman’ or ‘Gaelic’. This culminated in 1965 in the decommissioning of the Irish alphabet – at which point typography, that most everyday and habitually overlooked of visual material, became briefly visible and highly charged. The final section of the thesis focuses on the relationship between language, typography and identity. It argues that the debates about language reform in the mid twentieth- century led to a reconsideration of the variety of ways of ‘being Irish’ typographically and that the ‘Celtic’ associations of the uncial letter in particular offered potential for the negotiation of tradition and modernity. The thesis concludes that design in Ireland was presented as a means and a metaphor of modernisation. It attempts through an examination of a range of design examples, to follow Roland Barthes’s injunction to ‘track down in the decorative display of what- goes-without-saying’ the ideological constructions hidden in plain sight

Mitral Annular and Coronary Artery Calcification Are Associated with Mortality in HIV-Infected Individuals.

BackgroundHIV infection increases cardiovascular risk. Coronary artery calcification (CAC) and mitral annular calcification (MAC) identify patients at risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD). The purpose of this study was to examine the association between MAC, CAC and mortality in HIV-infected individuals.Methods and resultsWe studied 152 asymptomatic HIV-infected individuals with transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) and computed tomography (CT). MAC was identified on TTE using standardized criteria. Presence of CAC, CAC score and CAC percentiles were determined using the modified Agatston criteria. Mortality data was obtained from the Social Security and National Death Indices (SSDI/NDI). The median age was 49 years; 87% were male. The median duration of HIV was 16 years; 84% took antiretroviral therapy; 64% had an undetectable viral load. CVD risk factors included hypertension (35%), smoking (62%) and dyslipidemia (35%). Twenty-five percent of individuals had MAC, and 42% had CAC. Over a median follow-up of 8 years, 11 subjects died. Subjects with CAC had significantly higher mortality compared to those with MAC only or no MAC. The Harrell's C-statistic of CAC was 0.66 and increased to 0.75 when MAC was added (p = 0.05). MAC, prior CVD, age and HIV viral load were independently associated with higher age- and gender-adjusted CAC percentiles in an adjusted model (p < 0.05 for all).ConclusionIn HIV patients, the presence of MAC, traditional risk factors and HIV viral load were independently associated with CAC. Presence of CAC and MAC may be useful in identifying HIV-infected individuals at higher risk for death

Carotid Intima-Media Thickness Progression in HIV-Infected Adults Occurs Preferentially at the Carotid Bifurcation and Is Predicted by Inflammation.

BackgroundShear stress gradients and inflammation have been causally associated with atherosclerosis development in carotid bifurcation regions. The mechanism underlying higher levels of carotid intima-media thickness observed among HIV-infected individuals remains unknown.Methods and resultsWe measured carotid intima-media thickness progression and development of plaque in the common carotid, bifurcation region, and internal carotid artery in 300 HIV-infected persons and 47 controls. The median duration of follow-up was 2.4 years. When all segments were included, the rate of intima-media thickness progression was greater in HIV-infected subjects compared with controls after adjustment for traditional risk factors (0.055 vs. 0.024 mm/year, P=0.016). Rate of progression was also greater in the bifurcation region (0.067 vs. 0.025 mm/year, P=0.042) whereas differences were smaller in the common and internal regions. HIV-infected individuals had a greater incidence of plaque compared with controls in the internal (23% vs. 6.4%, P=0.0037) and bifurcation regions (34% vs. 17%, P=0.014). Among HIV-infected individuals, the rate of progression in the bifurcation region was more rapid compared with the common carotid, internal, or mean intima-media thickness; in contrast, progression rates among controls were similar at all sites. Baseline hsCRP was elevated in HIV-infected persons and was a predictor of progression in the bifurcation region.ConclusionsAtherosclerosis progresses preferentially in the carotid bifurcation region in HIV-infected individuals. hsCRP, a marker of inflammation, is elevated in HIV and is associated with progression in the bifurcation region. These data are consistent with a model in which the interplay between hemodynamic shear stresses and HIV-associated inflammation contribute to accelerated atherosclerosis. (J Am Heart Assoc. 2012;1:jah3-e000422 doi: 10.1161/JAHA.111.000422.)Clinical trial registrationURL: http://clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01519141