Update on the development of a novel dry cow therapy using a bismuth-based intramammary teat seal in combination with the bacteriocin lacticin 3147

peer-reviewedPublic concerns over the widespread prophylactic use of antibiotics have led to a search for alternatives to dry cow therapy for the prevention of intramammary infections. A popular alternative is to infuse a teat seal at drying-off. The teat seal is a viscous non-antibiotic formulation and when it is infused into the teat canal and the teat sinus it forms an internal seal that provides a physical barrier to invasion by mastitis-causing pathogens. Enhancement of teat seal formulations may be achieved using non-antibiotic additives such as bacteriocins, potent proteins produced by some bacteria that have the ability to kill other microorganisms. This paper traces the history of investigations at Moorepark Research Centre into the efficacy of teat seal plus lacticin 3147, a bacteriocin produced by Lactococcus lactis DPC3147, in the prevention of intramammary infections in dry cows. Indications from on-going investigations are that a dry cow formulation combining the two products has considerable potential as a non-antibiotic prophylactic product

Progressing the care, husbandry and management of ageing mice used in scientific studies

Driven by the longer lifespans of humans, particularly in Westernised societies, and the need to know more about ‘healthy ageing’, ageing mice are being used increasingly in scientific research. Many departments and institutes involved with ageing research have developed their own systems to determine intervention points for potential refinements and to identify humane end points. Several good systems are in use, but variations between them could contribute to poor reproducibility of the science achieved. Working with scientific and regulatory communities in the UK, we have reviewed the clinical signs observed in ageing mice and developed recommendations for enhanced monitoring, behaviour assessment, husbandry and veterinary interventions. We advocate that the default time point for enhanced monitoring should be 15 months of age, unless prior information is available. Importantly, the enhanced monitoring should cause no additional harms to the animals. Where a mouse strain is well characterised, the onset of age-related enhanced monitoring may be modified based on knowledge of the onset of an expected age-related clinical sign. In progeroid models where ageing is accelerated, enhanced monitoring may need to be brought forward. Information on the background strain must be considered, as it influences the onset of age-related clinical signs. The range of ageing models currently used means that there will be no ‘one-size fits all’ solution. Increased awareness of the issues will lead to more refined and consistent husbandry of ageing mice, and application of humane end points will help to reduce the numbers of animals maintained for longer than is scientifically justified

Language teaching and learning in Ireland: 2012–2021

The language teaching landscape in Ireland has changed considerably over the last 30 years as a result of substantial and sustained inward migration into the country during this period. These social and demographic developments have added to the country's already bilingual context and created a much more varied multilingual landscape than had existed in previous decades. They have also impacted various aspects of language teaching policy, provision and methods for both indigenous and foreign languages. This article reviews research on language teaching and learning in Ireland published during the period 2012–2021. We discuss relevant work disseminated primarily in peer-reviewed journals (national and international), as well as in books, commissioned reports and chapters in edited volumes. The research and policy documents presented concern the teaching and learning of Irish, English and Modern Foreign Languages as second and/or additional languages across all levels of education. They address language teacher training contexts as well. We believe that this review of research demonstrates the extent to which recent inquiries in these domains have advanced knowledge and practice in the Irish context, and have also informed the international research community more generally

The complex and changing cace of higher-education language teaching in the Republic of Ireland

The landscape of language learning and teaching in higher education (HE) in Ireland is complex and varied. Between institutions, a diversity of organisational structures are identifiable and, even within institutions, it can be seen that the provision of language education can vary significantly. In this paper, we present an overview of complexity within language education in Irish higher education which we investigated as part of our scoping exercise for the Higher Education Language Educator Competences (HELECs) project. In order to manage this complexity, we have taken a number of different approaches to gathering and analysing relevant data. Firstly, we attempt to ascertain which languages are offered and the programmes within which they are available. We rely here on data gathered by Post-Primary Languages Ireland (PPLI) and published on the Careers Portal website. Secondly, we present an analysis of the structure of language provision units within Universities and Institutes of Technology (IoTs). These data are publicly available through the institutions’ websites. Thirdly, we provide a detailed examination of the complex constellation of staff profiles involved in language education at four institutions representing the categories of higher education institutions (HEIs) in the system. We interrogate language units’ websites to obtain this information and augment it with data gathered through the HELECs project. In presenting these data, we aim to provide an overview of the landscape of language teaching and learning in HE in Ireland. In conducting this data analysis, we identify areas of concern for the sector including: the visibility of languages within HEIs; the multiplicity of professional identities of those who teach language in HE; and issues of precarity of employment and career progression in HE language education

Next Generation Life Support Project Status

Next Generation Life Support (NGLS) is one of several technology development projects sponsored by NASA s Game Changing Development Program. The NGLS Project is developing life support technologies (including water recovery and space suit life support technologies) needed for humans to live and work productively in space. NGLS has three project tasks: Variable Oxygen Regulator (VOR), Rapid Cycle Amine (RCA) swing bed, and Alternative Water Processor (AWP). The RCA swing bed and VOR tasks are directed at key technology needs for the Portable Life Support System (PLSS) for an Advanced Extravehicular Mobility Unit, with focus on test article development and integrated testing in an Advanced PLSS in cooperation with the Advanced Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) Project. An RCA swing-bed provides integrated carbon dioxide removal and humidity control that can be regenerated in real time during an EVA. The VOR technology will significantly increase the number of pressure settings available to the space suit. Current space suit pressure regulators are limited to only two settings whereas the adjustability of the advanced regulator will be nearly continuous. The AWP effort, based on natural biological processes and membrane-based secondary treatment, will result in the development of a system capable of recycling wastewater from sources expected in future exploration missions, including hygiene and laundry water. This paper will provide a status of technology development activities and future plans

Ocean acidification with (de)eutrophication will alter future phytoplankton growth and succession

Human activity causes ocean acidification (OA) though the dissolution of anthropogenically generated CO2 into seawater, and eutrophication through the addition of inorganic nutrients. Eutrophication increases the phytoplankton biomass that can be supported during a bloom, and the resultant uptake of dissolved inorganic carbon during photosynthesis increases water-column pH (bloom-induced basification). This increased pH can adversely affect plankton growth. With OA, basification commences at a lower pH. Using experimental analyses of the growth of three contrasting phytoplankton under different pH scenarios, coupled with mathematical models describing growth and death as functions of pH and nutrient status, we show how different conditions of pH modify the scope for competitive interactions between phytoplankton species. We then use the models previously configured against experimental data to explore how the commencement of bloom-induced basification at lower pH with OA, and operating against a background of changing patterns in nutrient loads, may modify phytoplankton growth and competition. We conclude that OA and changed nutrient supply into shelf seas with eutrophication or de-eutrophication (the latter owing to pollution control) has clear scope to alter phytoplankton succession, thus affecting future trophic dynamics and impacting both biogeochemical cycling and fisheries

Draft genome sequences of gammaproteobacterial methanotrophs isolated from marine ecosystems

The genome sequences of Methylobacter marinus A45, Methylobacter sp. strain BBA5.1, and Methylomarinum vadi IT-4 were obtained. These aerobic methanotrophs are typical members of coastal and hydrothermal vent marine ecosystems

Féiniúlacht agus inspreagadh i gcás cúntóirí teanga i scoileanna Gaeltachta [Identity and motivation among language assistants in Gaeltacht schools]

San alt seo, cuirtear i láthair taighde a rinneadh ar ghnéithe éagsúla de chur i bhfeidhm Scéim na gCúntóirí Teanga (an Scéim feasta) atá á reáchtáil ag an Roinn Turasóireachta, Cultúir, Ealaíon, Gaeltachta, Spóirt agus na Meán. Cuireann an Scéim, atá ar bun ó bhí 1999 ann, cúntóirí teanga ar fáil do scoileanna Gaeltachta d’fhonn an Ghaeilge a láidriú mar theanga labhartha i measc daltaí scoile sna ceantair sin. Ba é aidhm mhór an tionscadail taighde ná iniúchadh a dhéanamh ar staid reatha na Scéime agus ina dhiaidh sin moltaí chun feabhais a chur ar fáil. Úsáideadh ceistneoirí, agallaimh agus grúpaí fócais le sonraí a bhailiú ó pháirtithe leasmhara na Scéime. San alt seo, dírítear ar shonraí a bhaineann le féiniúlacht agus inspreagadh na gcúntóirí teanga a tháinig chun cinn sna grúpaí fócais ar ghlac 50 cúntóir páirt iontu. I gcomhthéacs na féiniúlachta, is iad na téamaí a d’eascair ó na comhráite ná féindearcadh na gcúntóirí orthu féin, a ról i suíomh na hoibre, agus ról na hoibre a dhéanann siad i dtacú leis an phobal lena mbaineann siad. I dtaca leis an inspreagadh, bhain na téamaí leis an teanga féin, na páistí a mbíonn siad ag obair leo, tacú le céad ghlún eile chainteoirí na Gaeilge agus todhchaí na Gaeltachta. Pléitear ráitis na gcúntóirí i gcomhthéacs na litríochta ar fhéiniúlacht teanga agus inspreagadh múinteoirí teanga, mar aon le cás na Gaeilge agus na Gaeltachta. [In this article we present data from a research project which reviewed various aspects of the implementation of Scéim na gCúntóirí Teanga (The Language Assistants Scheme), which is run by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. The Scheme, established in 1999, provides language assistants to Gaeltacht schools in order to strengthen spoken Irish among pupils in those regions. The main aim of the research was to evaluate the current state of the Scheme and to make recommendations for its enhancement. Questionnaires, interviews and focus groups were used to gather data from the Scheme’s stakeholders. The present article focuses on issues of identity and motivation which were discussed by the 50 language assistants who took part in the focus groups. In relation to identity, the themes that emerged were assistants’ self-image, their role in the workplace, and the role of the work they do to support their own community. As for motivation, the themes were connected to the language itself, the children they work with, supporting the next generation of Irish speakers, and the future of the Gaeltacht. The assistants’ statements are discussed in relation to the literatures on language identity and language teacher motivation, as well as the Irish language and the Gaeltacht.

Publishing and sharing multi-dimensional image data with OMERO

Imaging data are used in the life and biomedical sciences to measure the molecular and structural composition and dynamics of cells, tissues, and organisms. Datasets range in size from megabytes to terabytes and usually contain a combination of binary pixel data and metadata that describe the acquisition process and any derived results. The OMERO image data management platform allows users to securely share image datasets according to specific permissions levels: data can be held privately, shared with a set of colleagues, or made available via a public URL. Users control access by assigning data to specific Groups with defined membership and access rights. OMERO’s Permission system supports simple data sharing in a lab, collaborative data analysis, and even teaching environments. OMERO software is open source and released by the OME Consortium at www.openmicroscopy.org