Explorations in Classical Spartan property and society

Digitisation of this thesis was sponsored by Arcadia Fund, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin

An exploration of the assessment experiences of new academics as they engage with a community of practice in higher education

This paper considers a phenomenological research study that attempted to explore how new academics were introduced to the assessment process within a Higher Education context. Two key educational perspectives have shaped the interpretation of the studies findings. These are Nonaka and Takeuchi’s [Nonaka, I., Takeuchi, H., 1995. The Knowledge Creating Company: How Japanese Companies Create the Dynamics of Innovation. Oxford University Press, New York] model of knowledge conversion and Lave and Wenger’s work on communities of practice (1991, 2002). Three key findings emerged from this work. Firstly, the study highlights a number of issues relating to the types of support and guidance that new academics receive. These were divided into formal and informal types that either promoted conformity or facilitated challenge. Secondly, the study suggests that the ways in which experienced academic staff communicate their assessment knowledge and interact with new academics may require further consideration. Finally, the study raises questions about the type of academic that the organisation would wish to develop

Large Trees, Supertrees, and Diversification of the Grass Family

Phylogenetic studies of grasses (Poaceae) are advanced in comparison with most other angiosperm families. However, few studies have attempted to build large phylogenetic trees of the family and use these for evaluating patterns of diversification or other macroevolutionary hypotheses. Two contrasting approaches can be used to generate large trees: supermatrix analyses and supertrees. In this paper, we evaluated the suitability of each of these methods for the study of patterns and processes of evolution in the grasses. We collected data from DDBJ/EMBL/GenBank to determine sequence availability and asked how far we are from a complete generic-level phylogenetic tree of the grasses. We generated almost complete tribal-level supertrees (39 tribes) with over 400 genera using MRP methods, described their major clades, assessed their accuracy, and used them for the study of diversification. We generated a proportional supertree, by modifying the original supertree, to remove sampling bias associated with the original supertree that may affect diversification statistics. We used methods that incorporate information on the topological distribution of taxon diversity from all internal nodes of the phylogenetic tree to show that the grasses have experienced significant variations in diversification rates (M statistic P-value

Task-dependent plasticity in distributed neural circuits after transcranial direct current stimulation of the human motor cortex: A proof-of-concept study

The ability of non-invasive brain stimulation to induce neuroplasticity and cause long-lasting functional changes is of considerable interest for the reversal of chronic pain and disability. Stimulation of the primary motor cortex (M1) has provided some of the most encouraging after-effects for therapeutic purposes, but little is known about its underlying mechanisms. In this study we combined transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) and fMRI to measure changes in task-specific activity and interregional functional connectivity between M1 and the whole brain. Using a randomized counterbalanced sham-controlled design, we applied anodal and cathodal tDCS stimulation over the left M1. In agreement with previous studies, we demonstrate that tDCS applied to the target region induces task-specific facilitation of local brain activity after anodal tDCS, with the stimulation effects having a negative relationship to the resting motor threshold. Beyond the local effects, tDCS also induced changes in multiple downstream regions distinct from the motor system that may be important for therapeutic efficacy, including the operculo-insular and cingulate cortex. These results offer opportunities to improve outcomes of tDCS for the individual patient based on the degree of presumed neuroplasticity. Further research is still warranted to address the optimal stimulation targets and parameters for those with disease-specific symptoms of chronic pain

Genomic prediction of crown rust resistance in Lolium perenne

peer-reviewedBackground Genomic selection (GS) can accelerate genetic gains in breeding programmes by reducing the time it takes to complete a cycle of selection. Puccinia coronata f. sp lolli (crown rust) is one of the most widespread diseases of perennial ryegrass and can lead to reductions in yield, persistency and nutritional value. Here, we used a large perennial ryegrass population to assess the accuracy of using genome wide markers to predict crown rust resistance and to investigate the factors affecting predictive ability. Results Using these data, predictive ability for crown rust resistance in the complete population reached a maximum of 0.52. Much of the predictive ability resulted from the ability of markers to capture genetic relationships among families within the training set, and reducing the marker density had little impact on predictive ability. Using permutation based variable importance measure and genome wide association studies (GWAS) to identify and rank markers enabled the identification of a small subset of SNPs that could achieve predictive abilities close to those achieved using the complete marker set. Conclusion Using a GWAS to identify and rank markers enabled a small panel of markers to be identified that could achieve higher predictive ability than the same number of randomly selected markers, and predictive abilities close to those achieved with the entire marker set. This was particularly evident in a sub-population characterised by having on-average higher genome-wide linkage disequilibirum (LD). Higher predictive abilities with selected markers over random markers suggests they are in LD with QTL. Accuracy due to genetic relationships will decay rapidly over generations whereas accuracy due to LD will persist, which is advantageous for practical breeding applications.This work received funding from the Irish Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine DAFM (RSF 11/S/109) and Teagasc core funding. SKA is supported by a Teagasc PhD Walsh Fellowship. SLB has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 658031

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA MANAGEMENT COMPETENCIES FOR ACCEPTING EU FUNDS CAN EU FUNDS HELP IN DEVELOPING BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA ECONOMY, AND HOW TO MAKE THEM AVAILABLE TO BUSINESS ENTITIES

The main question the paper wants to answer is can EU funds help in developing B&H economy, and how to make them available to business entities. Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of the least developed countries in Europe, and it is a country that has not progressed when it comes to transition process and the EU accession. The conducted research on management in companies (corporate management), on officials in government bodies and parliamentary parties (state management), and also on students, point to possible solutions; how to stop the negative trends in business, employment and poverty, as well as how to speed up the process of the Euro Atlantic integration of B&H. One of the basic results of this research concludes that B&H presence in Europe is not a problem, but the fact that Europe (its value, social and economic systems) is not present in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Structural reforms and faster transition can create conditions for a faster economic development, and using EU funds for those purposes and (especially) for economic development can simultaneously be a motivation for a faster social and economic transition and the accession of B&H to the EU. Management in private companies are undoubtedly oriented in that direction, they expect the right preconditions and environment in order to be able to apply for EU funds. Those possibilities will mostly depend on the capability and efficiency of the state management . Therefore, there must be a persistent program for increasing the efficiency of the state management in B&H and for speeding up the EU accession process

Operculo-Insular and Anterior Cingulate Plasticity Induced by Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in the Human Motor Cortex: A Dynamic Casual Modelling Study

The ability to induce neuroplasticity with non-invasive brain stimulation techniques offers a unique opportunity to examine the human brain systems involved in pain modulation. In experimental and clinical settings, the primary motor cortex (M1) is commonly targeted to alleviate pain, but its mechanism of action remains unclear. Using dynamic causal modelling (DCM) and Bayesian model selection (BMS), we tested seven competing hypotheses about how TMS modulates the directed influences (or effective connectivity) between M1 and three distinct cortical areas of the medial and lateral pain systems, including the insular (INS), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and parietal operculum (PO). The dataset included a novel fMRI acquisition collected synchronously with M1 stimulation during rest and while performing a simple hand motor task. DCM and BMS showed a clear preference for the fully connected model in which all cortical areas receive input directly from M1, with facilitation of the connections INS®M1, PO®M1, and ACC®M1, plus increased inhibition of their reciprocal connections. An additional DCM analysis comparing the reduced models only corresponding to networks with a sparser connectivity within the full model, showed that M1 input into the INS is the second-best model of plasticity following TMS manipulations. The results reported here provide a starting point forinvestigating whether pathway-specific targeting involving M1«INS improves analgesic response beyond conventional targeting. We eagerly await future empirical data and models that tests this hypothesis