Down, Down, Baby

The series Down, Down, Baby is a visual diary, a documentation of the transitory period of my youth: the moments of freedom, debauchery, and recklessness I experienced with my closest companions. These individuals exist in these moments as a symbol for an undeniable attitude within youth culture that is greater than themselves. Down, Down, Baby illustrates our early reactions to independence and the animals we wanted to be and were, as well as the desire to stay young and relative by creating spectacles of ourselves. This way of living defies the logic of refined sensibility, political correctness, and good taste imparted on us during our adolescence. Down, Down, Baby exists as a physical memento, a reminder of the moments that have outlined my youth. The color photographs range from intense and vulgar to quiet and serene. These photographs function as a conceptual space for my memories and perceptions of history outside of the space of my own mind

Antibiotic Resistance in Foodborne Pathogens

Wide-spread antibiotic resistance among bacterial pathogens is now a serious public health issue and multi-antibiotic resistance has been reported in many foodborne pathogens including Salmonella and E. coli. A study to determine antibiotic resistance profiles of a range of Salmonella and Verocytotoxigenic E.coli (VTEC) isolated from Irish foods revealed significant levels of antibiotic resistance in the strains. S. typhimurium DT104 were multiantibiotic resistant with 97% resistant to 7 antibiotics. S. Dublin and S. Agona showed lower levels of antibiotic resistance. Antibiotic resistance among VTEC isolates was generally low but two isolates of E. coli O157:H7 from minced beef were shown to be multi-antibiotic resistant (8 to 10 antibiotics). Studies to determine the relationship between antibiotic resistance and tolerance to heat were conducted. The survival of Salmonella spp. with different antibiotic profiles (antibiotic sensitive, laboratory-developed antibiotic resistant mutants or multi-antibiotic resistant) on chicken heated to 55ºC with or without a prior heat shock at 48ºC was established. The D value (time in minutes to achieve a 90% or 1 log reduction in the Salmonella population) recorded for a multi-antibiotic resistant S. Typhimurium DT104 was significantly higher (P\u3c0.05) than for all other strains tested (antibiotic sensitive or with laboratory-acquired antibiotic resistance). These results suggest that the presence of multi-antibiotic resistance genes increased the heat tolerance of Salmonella. The survival of VTEC, E. coli O157:H7 and E. coli O26 (antibiotic sensitive, laboratory-developed antibiotic resistant mutants or multi-antibiotic resistant) in minced beef heated to 55ºC with or without a prior heat shock at 48ºC was established. The D value recorded for multi-antibiotic resistant E. coli O157:H7 was significantly lower than for the other strains tested. These results indicate that the presence of multi-antibiotic resistant genes rendered the pathogens more sensitive to heat. Studies to determine whether antibiotic resistance could be transferred within species (Salmonella Typhimurium to Salmonella Agona) and between species (Salmonella to E. coli) when co-inoculated into laboratory media, milk or minced beef at different storage temperatures (37, 25, 15 and 4ºC) showed that horizontal antibiotic resistance gene transfer occurred in all substrates at temperatures of 37 and 25ºC. At 15ºC, transfer of resistance occurred only in minced meat. Similar results were reported for transfer of antibiotic resistance both within the Salmonella spp. and between different species (Salmonella to E. coli)

The KBC Bank/ESRI Consumer Sentiment Index. ESRI Research Notes 2015/2/2

Since 2002 KBC Bank and the ESRI have published a monthly Consumer Sentiment Index, building on a dataset that dates back to February 1996. Across many countries, consumer sentiment is a commonly used indicator of consumer spending, which is an important element of economic growth. Trends in this component are important for forecasting and planning. In Ireland, the Consumer Sentiment Index has been used as an input into macro-economic modelling and has also been shown to perform well as a leading indicator of economic trends. Recently, the Consumer Sentiment Index has been used in the ’Nowcasting’ model which forms an input to the short-term forecasts of the Quarterly Economic Commentary

Large-scale curriculum redesign where technology plays a central role

VIDEO RECORDINGS: http://goo.gl/bGTaF Materials from the conference held in Birmingham on 21 May 2012. The event was organised by the Association for Learning Technology (ALT) and the Association of Colleges (AoC). Links to all recordings from the day are now available via http://goo.gl/bGTaF. Note that Donald Clarke's session does not contain video except slides

Quarterly Economic Commentary, Autumn 2015

The pace of the Irish recovery would appear to be increasing; the latest National Accounts indicate that output in the economy grew by over 5 per cent in 2014 and by almost 2 per cent in Q2 2015 alone. Use of the nowcasting model (summarised in the Appendix) suggests the economy is growing through Q3 by approximately 1.5 per cent per quarter in 2015. Accordingly, we now update our forecast for GDP in 2015 to 6 per cent, with GNP expected to grow marginally less at 5.9 per cent. One significant consequence of this is that Irish income per capita, which fell significantly post-2007, is now back to the peak level prior to the financial crisis

Quarterly Economic Commentary, Winter 2014

The Irish economy has seen significant growth in 2014 with improvements observable across a broad set of key indicators. Output growth (both GNP and GDP) is set to increase by approximately 5 per cent while unemployment will fall to just over 11 per cent. A key feature of economic developments in 2014 has been the particularly strong performance of taxation receipts with all major items reporting significant year-on-year increases. The net consequence of this is a fiscal deficit of approximately 3.5 per cent for this year; this is a full percentage point better than was expected this time last year

The Irish Economy – Forecast Overview and Summary. Quarterly Economic Commentary Special Article, Spring 2016

On foot of the substantial growth performance in 2015, the Irish economy looks set to continue to grow robustly in 2016. The economy as measured by GDP grew by 7.8 per cent in 2015; we expect that it will grow by 4.8 per cent in 2016. GNP, which grew by 5.7 per cent in 2015, is expected to increase by 5 per cent in the current year. Growth in 2016 is set to be heavily influenced by domestic factors with investment and consumption continuing to play a more central role in the overall growth performance of the domestic economy

Quarterly Economic Commentary, Winter 2015

The Irish economy is set to register a substantial growth performance in 2015 with the expected 6.7 per cent year-on-year increase in output unsurpassed since 2005. While the Irish recovery has benefitted from a weak Euro and strong economic performance amongst key trading partners, it is noteworthy, particularly given a variety of countervailing factors; the ongoing difficulties in the Irish financial sector, the related low levels of credit extended, the persistent high levels of private sector debt and the anaemic performance of many European economies since 2010

Quarterly Economic Commentary, Summer 2015

Most recent economic data confirm that the Irish economy is likely to register significant growth in 2015. In a continuation of indicative trends from 2014, receipts of taxation aggregates are still registering strong growth in Q1 2015. In particular, returns for pay related social insurance (PRSI) confirm the positive trends in the Irish labour market where unemployment, at 9.9 per cent, is now at its lowest rate since January 2009

Quarterly Economic Commentary, Autumn 2014

The fiscal and economic growth conditions underpinning the 2015 budget have improved quite significantly over the past quarter. In light of the recent trends observed in economic activity, we now revise upwards our growth forecasts for GNP to 4.9 and 5.2 per cent for 2014 and 2015 respectively. This improvement in the forecast is driven by a combination of better than expected performance in the net trade sector, a pick-up in investment levels and strong budgetary receipts. In a research note to the Commentary we highlight how the adoption of the “Nowcasting” methodology enhances our understanding of movements in Irish economic activity between the official release dates of the quarterly national accounts