A Framework for the Comparison of Virtual Classroom Systems

The increase in demand for open and distance learning has resulted in many higher education providers investing in virtual classroom systems. These systems can be an essential component in the delivery of flexible and online courses. While many institutions correctly place a greater emphasis on the pedagogical development of flexible courses, poor selection or implementation of virtual classroom software can reduce the pedagogical effectiveness of such courses and in some cases render them unworkable for both lecturing staff and students. Changes in vendor offerings, the continual evolution of end user technology, developments in mobile devices and improvements in internet infrastructure and services have resulted in need for continuous evaluation of virtual classroom systems and their capabilities to provide ideal environments for teaching and learning. This paper provides a comparative analysis of two such virtual classroom systems (Adobe Connect 7 and Microsoft Office Live Meeting 2007) and examines their suitability in meeting both pedagogical and technological needs in Irish higher education. In doing so it suggests a comparative framework for other institutions engaged in the evaluation of virtual classroom systems

Nucleic acid-based approaches to investigate microbial-related cheese quality defects

peer-reviewedThe microbial profile of cheese is a primary determinant of cheese quality. Microorganisms can contribute to aroma and taste defects, form biogenic amines, cause gas and secondary fermentation defects, and can contribute to cheese pinking and mineral deposition issues. These defects may be as a result of seasonality and the variability in the composition of the milk supplied, variations in cheese processing parameters, as well as the nature and number of the non-starter microorganisms which come from the milk or other environmental sources. Such defects can be responsible for production and product recall costs and thus represent a significant economic burden for the dairy industry worldwide. Traditional non-molecular approaches are often considered biased and have inherently slow turnaround times. Molecular techniques can provide early and rapid detection of defects that result from the presence of specific spoilage microbes and, ultimately, assist in enhancing cheese quality and reducing costs. Here we review the DNA-based methods that are available to detect/quantify spoilage bacteria, and relevant metabolic pathways in cheeses and, in the process, highlight how these strategies can be employed to improve cheese quality and reduce the associated economic burden on cheese processors.This work was funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine under the Food Institutional Research Measure. Daniel J. O’Sullivan is in receipt of a Teagasc Walsh Fellowship, Grant Number:2012205

Speaking into the Abyss: An Exploratory Study of Academics’ Use of Educational Technology and its Impact on Practice.

This is a study of educational technology use in academic practice undertaken in an Irish Higher Education setting. Based on interviews with fifteen academics, the enquiry attempts to respond to Selwyn’s (2010) call for an increase in social scientific accounts of technology use which pay heed to the ‘state-of-the-actual’, examining the actuality and consequences of technology use on academic practice and identity. Efforts to understand the socially constructed nature of technology use draw upon the researcher’s own varied experiences as an educational technologist, academic, and academic manager. The development of understanding is also guided by a theoretical framework drawn from Pierre Bourdieu’s Theory of Practice (Bourdieu, 1977) and its interlocking concepts of habitus, field, and capital. The key research questions addressed in the study highlight a varied and meaningful integration of technology into academic practice. Academic use of technology is shown to be strongly influenced by implicitly held knowledge of teaching and underlying belief systems which are shaped by assumptions, technological truisms, pseudo theories, and folk pedagogies. Technology use is also shown to be shaped by the surrounding organisational culture and the normative technological practices carried out within the academic disciplines. In examining the consequences of technology adoption for the academic, the research highlights impact on wellbeing, relationships, emotional state, and sense of place. Technology is exposed as a site of tension as academics struggle with fears, questions of ideology, discourse, challenges to identity and destabilising shifts in practice. Most importantly, the research exposes educational technology as a site of struggle. In an effort to mediate between agency and structure, these academics seek to hold autonomy over their own practices while also attempting to align their practice with the broader organisational culture of technology use. Tensions arise between academics, students, and academic management, as each group seeks power over what forms of technology are used, how they are used, and by whom they are used

Temporal and spatial differences in microbial composition during the manufacture of a Continental-type cheese

peer-reviewedWe sought to determine if the time, within a production day, that a cheese is manufactured has an influence on the microbial community present within that cheese. To facilitate this, 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing was used to elucidate the microbial community dynamics of brine salted Continental-type cheese in cheeses produced early and late in the production day. Differences in microbial composition of the core and rind of the cheese were also investigated. Throughout ripening, it was apparent that late production day cheeses had a more diverse microbial population than their early day equivalents. Spatial variation between the cheese core and rind was also noted in that cheese rinds were found to initially have a more diverse microbial population but thereafter the opposite was the case. Interestingly, the genera Thermus, Pseudoalteromonas and Bifidobacterium, not routinely associated with a Continental-type cheese produced from pasteurised milk were detected. The significance, if any, of the presence of these genera will require further attention. Ultimately, the use of high throughput sequencing has facilitated a novel and detailed analysis of the temporal and spatial distribution of microbes in this complex cheese system and established that the period during a production cycle at which a cheese is manufactured can influence its microbial composition.This work was funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine under the Food Institutional Research Measure through the ‘Cheeseboard 2015’ project. Daniel J. O’Sullivan is in receipt of a Teagasc Walsh Fellowship, Grant Number: 201220

Lessons Learned from Teaching Data Analytics in a Fully Online Mode at Postgraduate Level

This paper reports on the experiences of developing and delivering the online MSc. in Business Intelligence and Data Mining between 2010 and 2013. We outline our rationale for the selection of Adobe Connect as a synchronous classroom tool and discuss our use of the moodle virtual learning environment to support asynchronous learning and communication. We also discuss some of the key changes in approaches to teaching and assessment and the challenges that were faced by academics in adapting classroom based courses to an online distance education environment. We conclude by examining student interactions with the synchronous and asynchronous delivery technologies and reflect on feedback provided by staff and students throughout the delivery of the course

High-throughput DNA sequencing to survey bacterial histidine and tyrosine decarboxylases in raw milk cheeses

peer-reviewedBackground The aim of this study was to employ high-throughput DNA sequencing to assess the incidence of bacteria with biogenic amine (BA; histamine and tyramine) producing potential from among 10 different cheeses varieties. To facilitate this, a diagnostic approach using degenerate PCR primer pairs that were previously designed to amplify segments of the histidine (hdc) and tyrosine (tdc) decarboxylase gene clusters were employed. In contrast to previous studies in which the decarboxylase genes of specific isolates were studied, in this instance amplifications were performed using total metagenomic DNA extracts. Results Amplicons were initially cloned to facilitate Sanger sequencing of individual gene fragments to ensure that a variety of hdc and tdc genes were present. Once this was established, high throughput DNA sequencing of these amplicons was performed to provide a more in-depth analysis of the histamine- and tyramine-producing bacteria present in the cheeses. High-throughput sequencing resulted in generation of a total of 1,563,764 sequencing reads and revealed that Lactobacillus curvatus, Enterococcus faecium and E. faecalis were the dominant species with tyramine producing potential, while Lb. buchneri was found to be the dominant species harbouring histaminogenic potential. Commonly used cheese starter bacteria, including Streptococcus thermophilus and Lb. delbreueckii, were also identified as having biogenic amine producing potential in the cheese studied. Molecular analysis of bacterial communities was then further complemented with HPLC quantification of histamine and tyramine in the sampled cheeses. Conclusions In this study, high-throughput DNA sequencing successfully identified populations capable of amine production in a variety of cheeses. This approach also gave an insight into the broader hdc and tdc complement within the various cheeses. This approach can be used to detect amine producing communities not only in food matrices but also in the production environment itself.This work was funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine under the Food Institutional Research Measure through the ‘Cheeseboard 2015’ project. Daniel J. O’Sullivan is in receipt of a Teagasc Walsh Fellowship, Grant Number: 2012205

Enhancing The Quality Of Health Information Online: Recommendations For Health Education Professionals

Health information is plentiful and easy to access online. However, the quality, accuracy, and safety of the information have rightly been called in to question. Never the less, the number of health consumers seeking health information online continues to grow. The web presents health education professionals with unique opportunities to enhance the quality of health information online and leverage new web-based media to expand health education outreach methods. Practical suggestions for health professionals to initiate greater web visibility with the goal of increasing the quality of health information online are offered

Enhancing the Thermal Stability of Carbon Nanomaterials with DNA

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) have recently been utilized as fillers that reduce the flammability and enhance the strength and thermal conductivity of material composites. Enhancing the thermal stability of SWCNTs is crucial when these materials are applied to high temperature applications. In many instances, SWCNTs are applied to composites with surface coatings that are toxic to living organisms. Alternatively, single-stranded DNA, a naturally occurring biological polymer, has recently been utilized to form singly-dispersed hybrids with SWCNTs as well as suppress their known toxicological effects. These hybrids have shown unrivaled stabilities in both aqueous suspension or as a dried material. Furthermore, DNA has certain documented flame-retardant effects due to the creation of a protective char upon heating in the presence of oxygen. Herein, using various thermogravimetric analytical techniques, we find that single-stranded DNA has a significant flame-retardant effect on the SWCNTs, and effectively enhances their thermal stability. Hybridization with DNA results in the elevation of the thermal decomposition temperature of purified SWCNTs in excess of 200 °C. We translate this finding to other carbon nanomaterials including multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), reduced graphene oxide (RGO) and fullerene (C60), and show similar effects upon complexation with DNA. The rate of thermal decomposition of the SWCNTs was also explored and found to significantly depend upon the sequence of DNA that was used

A SURVEY FOR ODONTOCETE CETACEANS OFF KAUA‘I AND NI‘IHAU, HAWAI‘I, DURING OCTOBER AND NOVEMBER 2005: EVIDENCE FOR POPULATION STRUCTURE AND SITE FIDELITY

Considerable uncertainty exists regarding population structure and population sizes of most species of odontocetes in the Hawaiian Islands. A small-boat based survey for odontocetes was undertaken off the islands of Kaua‘i and Ni‘ihau in October and November 2005 to photoidentify individuals and collect genetic samples for examining stock structure. Field effort on 24 days covered 2,194 km of trackline. Survey coverage was from shallow coastal waters out to over 3,000 m depth, though almost half (47%) was in waters less than 500 m in depth. There were 56 sightings of five species of odontocetes: spinner dolphins (30 sightings); bottlenose dolphins (14 sightings); short-finned pilot whales (6 sightings); rough-toothed dolphins (5 sightings); and pantropical spotted dolphins (1 sighting). One hundred and five biopsy samples were collected and 14,960 photographs were taken to document morphology and for individual photo-identification. Photographs of distinctive individuals of three species (bottlenose dolphins, 76 identifications; rough-toothed dolphins, 157 identifications; short-finned pilot whales, 68 identifications) were compared to catalogs of these species from a survey off Kaua‘i and Ni‘ihau in 2003, as well as from efforts off O‘ahu, Maui/Lana‘i and the island of Hawai‘i. Within- and between-year matches were found for all three species with individuals previously identified off Kaua‘i and Ni‘ihau, though no matches were found with individuals off any of the other islands. This suggests site fidelity to specific island areas, and population structure among island areas for all three species. Movements of photographically identified bottlenose dolphins were documented between deep water areas off the islands of Kaua‘i and Ni‘ihau, as well as between shallow (\u3c350 m) and deep (\u3e350 m) waters. A lack of sightings or reports of false killer whales off Kaua‘i or Ni‘ihau during our study, combined with documented movements among the other main Hawaiian Islands, suggest that there is no “resident” population of false killer whales that inhabits waters only off Kaua‘i or Ni‘iha