Search

Abstract Background Epigenetic scores (EpiScores) can provide biomarkers of lifestyle and disease risk. Projecting new datasets onto a reference panel is challenging due to separation of technical and biological variation with array data. Normalisation can standardise data distributions but may also remove population-level biological variation. Results We compare two birth cohorts (Lothian Birth Cohorts of 1921 and 1936 — nLBC1921 = 387 and nLBC1936 = 498) with blood-based DNA methylation assessed at the same chronological age (79 years) and processed in the same lab but in different years and experimental batches. We examine the effect of 16 normalisation methods on a novel BMI EpiScore (trained in an external cohort, n = 18,413), and Horvath’s pan-tissue DNA methylation age, when the cohorts are normalised separately and together. The BMI EpiScore explains a maximum variance of R 2=24.5% in BMI in LBC1936 (SWAN normalisation). Although there are cross-cohort R 2 differences, the normalisation method makes a minimal difference to within-cohort estimates. Conversely, a range of absolute differences are seen for individual-level EpiScore estimates for BMI and age when cohorts are normalised separately versus together. While within-array methods result in identical EpiScores whether a cohort is normalised on its own or together with the second dataset, a range of differences is observed for between-array methods. Conclusions Normalisation methods returning similar EpiScores, whether cohorts are analysed separately or together, will minimise technical variation when projecting new data onto a reference panel. These methods are important for cases where raw data is unavailable and joint normalisation of cohorts is computationally expensive.

The IMPACT project at TU Dublin has been informed in part by the outcomes of the Co-CREATE project in 2019-20. Co-CREATE was a Team Teaching Fellowship project to support and underpin the building of a quality curriculum framework for the new technological university. A number of IMPACT projects (for example, NorthStar) have continued the work started within the Co-CREATE project to make it sustainable and embedded within the university. We present findings from one element of the Co-CREATE project which has informed a range of initiatives in IMPACT. This is the review of literature and practice undertaken to underpin the Co-CREATE project. The review addresses student voice and agency in curriculum design, enhancing sustainability in curriculum design, and identifies the importance of interdisciplinary approaches in the development of new programmes and provision. Curriculum in higher education has been discussed in educational literature as a fluid and contested concept. It relates to product, often described as content and syllabus, but also process, socially and politically embedded with the potential for change in positive or less positive directions. We present our findings and insights, and the recommendations we have made to stakeholders in our institution. We reflect on the purposes of higher education in the 21st century, and consider the UN Sustainable Development Goals and how they relate to TU Dublin’s mission and vision. We consider the place of graduate attributes, innovation, global citizenship and the impact of new technologies. We report on the development of curriculum frameworks and design at other technological universities, and how our experiences might be more diverse than those of traditional universities. We consider the impact of “connected” approaches to curriculum in research-intensive universities, and how these might be translated to the technological university context. We conclude with recommendations arising from the review of literature and practice which underpinned further work in Co-CREATE, and which may also be of value to others commencing this kind of work or reviewing curricula.

In this Introduction, an overview of the IMPACT Special Issue is presented. The context of the IMPACT project is described and explained. A short summary is given for each of the papers that follow. Readers are invited to read the Special Issue, access the IMPACT project website, and connect with authors and project leads.

Introduction Increasing use of cleaner fuels, such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and abandonment of solid fuels is key to reducing household air pollution and realising potential health improvements in low-income countries. However, achieving exclusive LPG use in households unaccustomed to this type of fuel, used in combination with a new stove technology, requires substantial behaviour change. We conducted theory-grounded formative research to identify contextual factors influencing cooking fuel choice to guide the development of behavioural strategies for the Household Air Pollution Intervention Network (HAPIN) trial. The HAPIN trial will assess the impact of exclusive LPG use on air pollution exposure and health of pregnant women, older adult women, and infants under 1 year of age in Guatemala, India, Peru, and Rwanda.Methods Using the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation–Behaviour (COM–B) framework and Behaviour Change Wheel (BCW) to guide formative research, we conducted in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, observations, key informant interviews and pilot studies to identify key influencers of cooking behaviours in the four countries. We used these findings to develop behavioural strategies likely to achieve exclusive LPG use in the HAPIN trial.Results We identified nine potential influencers of exclusive LPG use, including perceived disadvantages of solid fuels, family preferences, cookware, traditional foods, non-food-related cooking, heating needs, LPG awareness, safety and cost and availability of fuel. Mapping formative findings onto the theoretical frameworks, behavioural strategies for achieving exclusive LPG use in each research site included free fuel deliveries, locally acceptable stoves and equipment, hands-on training and printed materials and videos emphasising relevant messages. In the HAPIN trial, we will monitor and reinforce exclusive LPG use through temperature data loggers, LPG fuel delivery tracking, in-home observations and behavioural reinforcement visits.Conclusion Our formative research and behavioural strategies can inform the development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of theory-informed strategies to promote exclusive LPG use in future stove programmes and research studies.Trial registration number NCT02944682, Pre-results.

Library Graduate Teaching Assistants (LGTAs) are crucial to the smooth running of undergraduate teaching laboratories; however, they are oftentimes exiled to superficial duties such as enforcing health and safety and procedural instruction. The aim of this intrinsic case study, carried out in an Irish higher education institution, was to characterise the support required by LGTAs to develop the key pedagogical skills that would assist then in effectively demonstrating undergraduate science teaching labs. Thematic analysis of the skills gap analysis undertaken indicated an overall shortcoming in LGTA confidence in their ability to effectively demonstrate. The under-supported pedagogical sills areas were mapped onto sub themes of engagement, communication, grading and providing feedback. This provided a rationale to develop a bespoke training course to assist and underpin the LGTAs development as novice academics; to address pedagogical skills gaps and this was delivered following a socially constructed, “just-in-time” pedagogy. Upon completion, the effectiveness of this model of LGTA pedagogical training to suitable support LGTAs in their pedagogical development was evaluated by stakeholder survey and discussion for a. Overall, it was noted that the training course had a very positive influence on the LGTAs; as they developed a noticeable increase in confidence in their ability to demonstrate, they took on additional responsibilities in the lab and developed their own community of practice. Based on the perceived improvement observed in this intrinsic case study, it is recommended that with continual training and appropriate support LGTAs can take a more central role in the STEM undergraduate teaching lab. An in-depth set of recommendations devised from this study is included and would be of particular value to novice educators in higher education and those that supervise, mentor and manage LGTAs.

This project aimed to improve the laboratory learning experience for undergraduate science students, focusing initially on first and third year cohorts, through specific objectives. Firstly, to incorporate novel teaching and assessment methods, including student led laboratories, in-house produced instructional videos, "Clickers" audience response devices, and pre-practical on-line MCQ assessments. Secondly, to develop timely feedback mechanisms, including peer review, tutor face to face and audio feedback, online automatic feedback, and report checklists. Finally, to imbed transferable skills into the laboratory including group work, communication skills (written and oral), organisation & project planning, health & safety, and preparedness for laboratories, final year projects & placement. Pedagogical evaluation was through anonymous multiple choice questionnaires and independent academic facilitated discussion forums. The main benefits are students who are better prepared, both for basic undergraduate laboratories and for independent research-based final year projects; continuity in the development of transferable skills; improved assessment quality though constructive alignment and appropriate feedback; and improved student satisfaction through engagement and feedback. The key recommendations arising from this study are; to encourage preparedness for practical sessions, harnessing technology to engage students through interesting pre-practical activities; to encourage an improved culture of feedback, including mechanisms such as podcasts, which also "feed-forward"; and to encourage a culture where value is added to modules by actively incorporating transferable skills into all student activities and assessments, rather than a "bolt on" approach.

The investigative case study presented here is an exploration of an online, multi-disciplinary, professional up-skilling module that seeks to understand how participants perceived an online delivery, feedback and constructively aligned assessment strategy. Initially a validated survey, and subsequently a purposefully selected group of four participants informed the outcomes of this study. The findings, in brief, noted that the structure of the online course was well received by the learners; with the key emergent themes focussing on the aligned approach to content, assessment and feedback as well as the flexibility the online (a)synchronous learning offered participants. Conversely, the use of webinars for feedback was found to be less popular than other aspects of the online delivery, attributed to poor internet connectivity experienced by some participants. The findings from this case study will help inform the designers of online modules in their choices of technologies appropriate to online delivery as well as offering recommendations for practice in online assessment and feedback.

Beer and spirits are two of the most consumed alcoholic beverages in the world, and their production generates enormous amounts of by-product materials. This ranges from spent grain, spent yeast, spent kieselguhr, trub, carbon dioxide, pot ale, and distilled gin spent botanicals. The present circular economy dynamics and increased awareness on resource use for enhanced sustainable production practices have driven changes and innovations in the management practices and utilization of these by-products. These include food product development, functional food applications, biotechnological applications, and bioactive compounds extraction. As a result, the brewing and distilling sector of the food and drinks industry is beginning to see a shift from conventional uses of by-products such as animal feed to more innovative applications. This review paper therefore explored some of these valorization initiatives and the current state of the art. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has shown that infants can learn from social cues. But is a social cue more effective at directing learning than a non-social cue? This study investigated whether 9-month-old infants (N = 55) could learn a visual statistical regularity in the presence of a distracting visual sequence when attention was directed by either a social cue (a person) or a non-social cue (a rectangle). The results show that both social and non-social cues can guide infants' attention to a visual shape sequence (and away from a distracting sequence). The social cue more effectively directed attention than the non-social cue during the familiarization phase, but the social cue did not result in significantly stronger learning than the non-social cue. The findings suggest that domain general attention mechanisms allow for the comparable learning seen in both conditions.

The Science Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) Network is an academic network comprised of nine Higher Education Institutions (HEI) in Ireland that seeks to enhance the profile of, and practices in, undergraduate research in the Sciences within the Technological Higher Education Sector. This paper presents the reflections of the network's leaders on the formation and growth of the network over the period from 2015, just prior to its establishment, to 2020 when the network hosted its seventh undergraduate research conference, published its second undergraduate journal issue, and initiated a coordinated community of practice in response to the Covid-19 crisis. The paper presents the motivations of the leaders for establishing and joining the SURE network, their interpretation of how involvement in the network enhances practice in their own HEI, their reflections on how their own personal development was enhanced, their interpretation of the factors that have contributed to the success of the network, and the direction in which they see the network going in the future. The collective reflections of the leaders of the SURE Network, as presented in this paper, provide importance guidance for those seeking to establish similar academic networks, both in the area of undergraduate research and elsewhere.

Consumer preferences, safety, and sustainability aspects of conventional cosmetic ingredients have contributed to an increase in the demand for natural cosmetic ingredients and products. Naturally derived active cosmetic agents and excipients may come into contact with various naturally occurring and synthetic contaminants throughout the supply chain, and substantiating their safety is essential. This review examines the safety and legislative requirements applicable to natural cosmetic ingredients in the European Union (EU). Cosmetic safety requirements include technical data based on the ingredient profile, presence of hazards and the risks associated with the intended conditions of use. The hazard analysis includes screening for microbial contaminants such as aerobic mesophilic bacteria, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, and Candida albicans; chemical contaminants such as lead, cadmium, arsenic, and mercury; and naturally occurring toxins, such as allergens. The toxicological assessment considers both local effects (such as skin sensitisation, eye/skin irritation, and photo-induced effects) and systemic effects (including acute dermal toxicity, sub-acute and sub-chronic toxicity, mutagenicity and carcinogenicity, reproductive toxicity, and toxicokinetics). The EU legislative requirements prohibit the use of animal-based tests for the toxicological evaluation of cosmetic ingredients, paving the way for alternatives termed as New Approach Methodologies (NAMs). The validation of NAMs is critical for their wider usage, and despite advancements, few have been validated, particularly for systemic toxicity testing. The use of NAMs in evaluating the safety of complex natural cosmetic ingredients is further examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]