Can Blending Face-To-Face Teaching With E-Learning Support the Development of Phase 4 Apprentices in Mathematics? A Formative Evaluation Research Study.

This thesis is a formative evaluation research study. Its purpose is to establish if blending face-to-face and e-learning delivery methods can support the development of Phase 4 apprentice plumbers in mathematics in the Department of Construction Skills in the Technologicl University Dublin. The study also included the design, development and evaluation of a mathematics web site called Plumatics 4 U which is grounded in established theoretical criteria for effective blended delivery within third level education. This web site is currently in use by Phase 4 apprentice plumbers and is delivered through WebCT. The CD accompanying this thesis contains a short film giving an overview of the web site. The research design used a mixed method approach combining both quantitative and qualitative data derived from questionnaires, interviews, non-participant observation and focus group sessions. The research, which lasted three months, involved forty Phase 4 apprentices, half of whom had the Leaving Certificate and the remainder the Junior Certificate as their highest second level educational qualification. Only one of the research group was female and their ages ranged from twenty to twenty-three years. A literature review was conducted covering areas such as formative evaluation of third level programmes, blended learning models, social constructivist approaches to learning and teaching and principles of effective web course design. Primary studies were used to inform the research process and identify a suitable methodology and methods of data collection. The principal findings of the research indicate that Phase 4 student apprentices who took part in the blended learning module, and whose highest second level educational qualification is the Junior Certificate, showed a 10% improvement in examination results in questions with a mathematical content. The research also indicates that if Phase 4 students are to be offered the opportunity to participate in e-learning, additional resources will be required and staff will need to be trained in the use of the WebCT platform. The staff who deliver mathematics to this group believe that an e-learning site as a learning and teaching resource should be encouraged and fostered in the department. Feedback from students who took part in the study shows that their experience of e-learning was extremely positive and that 84% would like to participate in this type of delivery method in the future. The feedback also indicated that the Plumatics 4 U web site would benefit from certain revisions such as the addition of more self-tests and the integration of a grading scheme for these self-tests. The conclusions of this research show that teaching mathematics using a blended learning strategy can lead to improved student performance in examinations. Finally, it is recommended that the Plumatics 4 U web site be made available to other Institutes of Technology that deliver the Phase 4 plumbing programme

Meiotic DNA breaks drive multifaceted mutagenesis in the human germ line.

Meiotic recombination commences with hundreds of programmed DNA breaks; however, the degree to which they are accurately repaired remains poorly understood. We report that meiotic break repair is eightfold more mutagenic for single-base substitutions than was previously understood, leading to de novo mutation in one in four sperm and one in 12 eggs. Its impact on indels and structural variants is even higher, with 100- to 1300-fold increases in rates per break. We uncovered new mutational signatures and footprints relative to break sites, which implicate unexpected biochemical processes and error-prone DNA repair mechanisms, including translesion synthesis and end joining in meiotic break repair. We provide evidence that these mechanisms drive mutagenesis in human germ lines and lead to disruption of hundreds of genes genome wide

Enhancing Graduate Attributes: a Preliminary Research Study.

The objective of this teaching fellowship research project was to establish if graduate attributes should form part of student education within programmes offered by the DIT. This study was conducted during one semester and concentrated on one aspect of graduate attributes which were interview skills. Two videos were scripted, shot and edited that focused on interviews from the perspective of both the interviewer and the interviewee. These videos were showcased with lecturers whose feedback indicated that some improvements were required. Following those improvements the videos were shown to two student groups for feedback. The videos successfully provoked an awareness of the requirements in both situations and were well received. It is recommended that further research be carried out on developing materials and resources that focus on enhancing graduate attributes. These resources could be integrated into a dedicated module and embedded within programmes

Enhancing Graduate Attributes: a Preliminary Research Study

The objective of this Teaching Fellowship research project was to establish whether graduate attributes should form part of student education within programmes offered by the Dublin Institute of Technology. This study was conducted during one semester and concentrated on one aspect of graduate attributes which were interview skills. Two videos were scripted, shot and edited that focused on interviews from the perspective of both the interviewer and the interviewee. These videos were showcased with lecturers whose feedback indicated that some improvements were required. Following those improvements the videos were shown to two student groups for feedback. The videos successfully provoked an awareness of the requirements in both situations and were well received. It is recommended that further research be carried out on developing materials and resources that focus on enhancing graduate attributes. These resources could be integrated into a dedicated module and embedded within programmes

Eicosapentaenoic acid and oxypurinol in the treatment of muscle wasting in a mouse model of cancer cachexia

Cancer cachexia is a wasting condition, driven by systemic inflammation and oxidative stress. This study investigated eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) in combination with oxypurinol as a treatment in a mouse model of cancer cachexia. Mice with cancer cachexia were randomized into 4 treatment groups (EPA (0.4 g/kg/day), oxypurinol (1 mmol/L ad-lib), combination, or control), and euthanized after 29 days. Analysis of oxidative damage to DNA, mRNA analysis of pro-oxidant, antioxidant and proteolytic pathway components, along with enzyme activity of pro- and antioxidants were completed on gastrocnemius muscle. The control group displayed earlier onset of tumor compared to EPA and oxypurinol groups (P&lt;0.001). The EPA group maintained body weight for an extended duration (20 days) compared to the oxypurinol (5 days) and combination (8 days) groups (P&lt;0.05). EPA (18.2&plusmn;3.2 pg/ml) and combination (18.4&plusmn;3.7 pg/ml) groups had significantly higher 8-OH-dG levels than the control group (12.9&plusmn;1.4 pg/ml, P&le;0.05) indicating increased oxidative damage to DNA. mRNA levels of GPx1, MURF1 and MAFbx were higher following EPA treatment compared to control (P&le;0.05). Whereas oxypurinol was associated with higher GPx1, MnSOD, CAT, XDH, MURF1, MAFbx and UbB mRNA compared to control (P&le;0.05). Activity of total SOD was higher in the oxypurinol group (32.2&plusmn;1.5 U/ml) compared to control (27.0&plusmn;1.3 U/ml, P&lt;0.01), GPx activity was lower in the EPA group (8.76&plusmn;2.0 U/ml) compared to control (14.0&plusmn;1.9 U/ml, P&lt;0.05), and catalase activity was lower in the combination group (14.4&plusmn;2.8 U/ml) compared to control (20.9&plusmn;2.0 U/ml, P&lt;0.01). There was no change in XO activity. The increased rate of weight decline in mice treated with oxypurinol indicates that XO may play a protective role during the progression of cancer cachexia, and its inhibition is detrimental to outcomes. In combination with EPA, there was little significant improvement from control, indicating oxypurinol is unlikely to be a viable treatment compound in cancer cachexia.<br /

Relationships between clean fleece weight, reproduction and fatness in adult Merino ewes and growth, fleece, carcase attributes and survival in their progeny

Concerns that high clean fleece weight (CFW) sheep were likely to be less fit during drought has been expressed by producers and has been supported to some degree by animal house experiments. These experiments predominantly used dry sheep, and found high fleece weight genotypes were leaner and had lower circulating energy levels. Conclusions from the experiments implied that reductions in reproduction will occur as a result of an emphasis on CFW selection. This thesis has examined the hypothesis that breeding ewes, selected for high or low CFW and high or low body weight and held at two levels of stocking rate, will partition nutrition differently with reductions evident in body fat and reproduction for high CFW animals. Also examined were the effects on carcase quality and growth in their offspring. Adult ewes (5-8 y.o.) were selected on the basis of their hogget CFW and hogget offshears body weight (BWT). Over two years, adult ewes were held at two levels of stocking rate throughout pregnancy and from marking to joining and liveweight, body fat score, ultrasound scanned fat and muscle depth and reproduction were recorded. The first drop of wether progeny were retained for slaughter to determine the effects on carcase quality and the first drop of ewe progeny were retained for measures of hogget fleece production. The final experiment examined controlled feed intake and metabolic energy reserves in the dams under animal house conditions, and the implications for rearing twin lambs

The performance of Australian Merinos selected for weaning weight after the suspension of selection

The present study involved genetic analyses of three lines of Australian Merino sheep previously selected for high and low weaning weights. Direct and correlated responses of lambs and hoggets were evaluated for growth traits and wool weights after selection for high and low weaning weight was suspended following thirty years of selection. The genotypes were also evaluated for their growth and wool performance in two locations, and phenotypic and genetic parameters were determined with emphasis on the importance and influence of maternal effects. Only one model was used in the analyses of the data with six co-variances (residual variance, direct additive variance, maternal additive variance, direct-maternal additive co-variance, permanent environmental variance and temporary environmental variance) fitted. The study revealed that body weight and birth weight have moderate estimates of maternal heritability with the value decreasing with animal age. Maternal effects for wool traits were minimal. Similarly, the permanent maternal environmental effect decreased with age for body weights and had only a small effect on wool traits. Direct additive and maternal correlations between body weights was found to be low and positive and was low and negative for wool traits. These results are in agreement with previously published estimates confirming the importance of maternal effects for body weight parameters

Thermal structure of a gas-permeable lava dome and timescale separation in its response to perturbation

The thermal boundary layer at the surface of a volcanic lava dome is investigated through a continuum model of the thermodynamic advection diffusion processes resulting from magmatic gas flow through the dome matrix. The magmatic gas mass flux, porosity and permeability of the rock are identified as key parameters. New, theoretical, nonlinear steady-state thermal profiles are reported which give a realistic surface temperature of 210 degC for a region of lava dome surface through which a gas flux of 3.5 x 10-3 kg s-1 m-2 passes. This contrasts favourably with earlier purely diffusive thermal models, which cool too quickly. Results are presented for time-dependent perturbations of the steady states as a response to: changes in surface pressure, a sudden rockfall from the lava dome surface, and a change in the magmatic gas mass flux at depth. Together with a generalized analysis using the method of multiple scales, this identifies two characteristic time scales associated with the thermal evolution of a dome carapace: a short time scale of several minutes, over which the magmatic gas mass flux, density, and pressure change to a new quasi-steady-state, and a longer time scale of several days, over which the thermal profile changes to a new equilibrium distribution. Over the longer time scale the dynamic properties of the dome continue to evolve, but only in slavish response to the ongoing temperature evolution. In the light of this time scale separation, the use of surface temperature measurements to infer changes in the magmatic gas flux for use in volcanic hazard prediction is discussed

PopART-IBM, a highly efficient stochastic individual-based simulation model of generalised HIV epidemics developed in the context of the HPTN 071 (PopART) trial

Mathematical models are powerful tools in HIV epidemiology, producing quantitative projections of key indicators such as HIV incidence and prevalence. In order to improve the accuracy of predictions, such models need to incorporate a number of behavioural and biological heterogeneities, especially those related to the sexual network within which HIV transmission occurs. An individual-based model, which explicitly models sexual partnerships, is thus often the most natural type of model to choose. In this paper we present PopART-IBM, a computationally efficient individual-based model capable of simulating 50 years of an HIV epidemic in a large, high-prevalence community in under a minute. We show how the model calibrates within a Bayesian inference framework to detailed age- and sex-stratified data from multiple sources on HIV prevalence, awareness of HIV status, ART status, and viral suppression for an HPTN 071 (PopART) study community in Zambia, and present future projections of HIV prevalence and incidence for this community in the absence of trial intervention

Employment experiences of Polish migrant workers in the UK hospitality sector.

2010-2011 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journa