The differences in the social competence of children who attend integrated junior infant classes and children who attend segregated learning environments

There are a number of reasons why this researcher has decided to undertake this study into the differences in the social competence of children who attend integrated Junior Infant classes and children who attend segregated learning environments. Theses reasons are both personal and professional. My personal reasons stem from having grown up in a family which included both an aunt who presented with Down Syndrome and an uncle who presented with hearing impairment. Both of these relatives' experiences in our education system are interesting. My aunt was considered ineducable while her brother - my uncle - was sent to Dublin (from Cork) at six years of age to be educated by a religious order. My professional reasons, on the other hand, stemmed from my teaching experience. Having taught in both special and integrated classrooms it became evident to me that there was somewhat 'suspicion' attached to integration. Parents of children without disabilities questioned whether this process would have a negative impact on their children's education. While parents of children with disabilities debated whether integrated settings met the specific needs of their children. On the other hand, I always questioned whether integration and inclusiveness meant the same thing. My research has enabled me to find many answers. Increasingly, children with special educational needs (SEN) are attending a variety of integrated and inclusive childcare and education settings. This contemporary practice of educating children who present with disabilities in mainstream classrooms has stimulated vast interest on the impact of such practices on children with identified disabilities. Indeed, children who present with disabilities "fare far better in mainstream education than in special schools" (Buckley, cited in Siggins, 2001,p.25). However, educators and practitioners in the field of early years education and care are concerned with meeting the needs of all children in their learning environments, while also upholding high academic standards (Putman, 1993). Fundamentally, therefore, integrated education must also produce questions about the impact of this practice on children without identified special educational needs. While these questions can be addressed from the various areas of child development (i.e. cognitive, physical, linguistic, emotional, moral, spiritual and creative), this research focused on the social domain. It investigates the development of social competence in junior infant class children without identified disabilities as they experience different educational settings.

Nanostructured materials for Lithium-ion battery technology

The Li-ion battery has for several years been at the forefront of powering an ever-increasing number of modem consumer electronic devices such as laptops, tablet PCs, cell phones, portable music players etc., while in more recent times, has also been sought to power a range of emerging electric and hybrid-electric vehicle classes. Given their extreme popularity, a number of features which define the performance of the Li-ion battery have become a target of improvement and have garnered tremendous research effort over the past two decades. Features such as battery capacity, voltage, lifetime, rate performance, together with important implications such as safety, environmental benignity and cost have all attracted attention. Although properties such as cell voltage and theoretical capacity are bound by the selection of electrode materials which constitute its interior, other performance makers of the Li-ion battery such as actual capacity, lifetime and rate performance may be improved by tailoring such materials with characteristics favourable to Li+ intercalation. One such tailoring route involves shrinking of the constituent electrode materials to that of the nanoscale, where the ultra-small diameters may bestow favourable Li+ intercalation properties while providing a necessary mechanical robustness during routine electrochemical operation. The work detailed in this thesis describes a range of synthetic routes taken in nanostructuring a selection of choice Li-ion positive electrode candidates, together with a review of their respective Li-ion performances. Chapter one of this thesis serves to highlight a number of key advancements which have been made and detailed in the literature over recent years pertaining to the use of nanostructured materials in Li-ion technology. Chapter two provides an overview of the experimental conditions and techniques employed in the synthesis and electrochemical characterisation of the as-prepared electrode materials constituting this doctoral thesis. Chapter three details the synthesis of small-diameter V2O5 and V2O5/TiO2 nanocomposite structures prepared by a novel carbon nanocage templating method using liquid precursors. Chapter four details a hydrothermal synthesis and characterisation of nanostructured β-LiVOPO4 powders together with an overview of their Li+ insertion properties while chapter five focuses on supercritical fluid synthesis as one technique in the tailoring of FeF2 and CoF2 powders having potentially appealing Li-ion 'conversion' properties. Finally, chapter six summarises the overall conclusions drawn from the results presented in this thesis, coupled with an indication of potential future work which may be explored upon the materials described in this work.

The early years in Irish multigrade classes: trajectories of practice and identity

This study investigates how the experiences of Junior Infants are shaped in multigrade classes. Multigrade classes are composed of two or more grades within the same classroom with one teacher having responsibility for the instruction of all grades in this classroom within a time-tabled period (Little, 2001, Mason and Doepner, 1998). The overall aim of the research is to problematize the issues of early childhood pedagogy in multigrade classes in the context of children negotiating identities, positioning and power relations. A Case Study approach was employed to explore the perspectives of the teachers, children and their parents in eight multigrade schools. Concurrent with this, a nation-wide Questionnaire Survey was also conducted which gave a broader context to the case study findings. Findings from the research study suggest that institutional context is vitally important and finding the space to implement pedagogic practices is a highly complex matter for teachers. While a majority of teachers reported the benefits for younger children being in mixed-age settings alongside older children, only a minority of case study school teachers demonstrated how it is possible to promote classroom climates which were provided multiple opportunities for younger children to engage fully in classrooms. The findings reveal constraints on pedagogical practice which included: time pressures within the job, an increase in diversity in pupil population, meeting special needs, large class sizes, high pupil/teacher ratios, and planning/organisation of tasks which intensified the complexities of addressing the needs of children who differ significantly in age, cognitive, social and emotional levels. An emergent and recurrent theme of this study is the representation of Junior Infants as apprentices in their ‘communities of practice’ who contributed in peripheral ways to the practices of their groups (Lave and Wenger, 1991, Wenger, 1998). Through a continuous process of negotiation of meaning, these pupils learned the knowledge and skills within their communities of practice that empowered some to participate more fully than others. The children in their ‘figured worlds’ (Holland, Lachiotte, Skinner and Caine 1998) occupy identities which are influenced by established arrangements of resources and practices within that community as well as by their own agentive actions. Finally, the findings of the study also demonstrate how the dimension of power is central to the exercise of social relations and pedagogical practices in multigrade classes.

Proteomic approaches to environmental stress in mussel Mytilus edulis due to emerging classes of anthropogenic pollutants

Anthropogenic pollutant chemicals pose a major threat to aquatic organisms. There is a need for more research on emerging categories of environmental chemicals such as nanomaterials, endocrine disruptors and pharmaceuticals. Proteomics offers options and advantages for early warning of alterations in environmental quality by detecting sub-lethal changes in sentinel species such as the mussel, Mytilus edulis. This thesis aimed to compare the potential of traditional biomarkers (such as enzyme activity measurement) and newer redox proteomic approaches. Environmental proteomics, especially a redox proteomics toolbox, may be a novel way to study pollutant effects on organisms which can also yield information on risks to human health. In particular, it can probe subtle biochemical changes at sub-lethal concentrations and thus offer novel insights to toxicity mechanisms. In the first instance, the present research involved a field-study in three stations in Cork Harbour, Ireland (Haulbowline, Ringaskiddy and Douglas) compared to an outharbour control site in Bantry Bay, Ireland. Then, further research was carried out to detect effects of anthropogenic pollution on selected chemicals. Diclofenac is an example of veterinary and human pharmaceuticals, an emerging category of chemical pollutants, with potential to cause serious toxicity to non-target organisms. A second chemical used for this study was copper which is a key source of contamination in marine ecosystems. Thirdly, bisphenol A is a major anthropogenic chemical mainly used in polycarbonate plastics manufacturing that is widespread in the environment. It is also suspected to be an endocrine disruptor. Effects on the gill, the principal feeding organ of mussels, were investigated in particular. Effects on digestive gland were also investigated to compare different outcomes from each tissue. Across the three anthropogenic chemicals studied (diclofenac, copper and bisphenol A), only diclofenac exposure did not show any significant difference towards glutathione transferase (GST) responses. Meanwhile, copper and bisphenol A significantly increased GST in gill. Glutathione reductase (GR) enzyme analysis revealed that all three chemicals have significant responses in gill. Catalase activity showed significant differences in digestive gland exposed to diclofenac and gills exposed to bisphenol A. This study focused then on application of redox proteomics; the study of the oxidative modification of proteins, to M. edulis. Thiol proteins were labelled with 5-iodoacetamidofluorescein prior to one-dimensional and two-dimensional electrophoresis. This clearly revealed some similarities on a portion of the redox proteome across chemical exposures indicating where toxicity mechanism may be common and where effects are unique to a single treatment. This thesis documents that proteomics is a robust tool to provide valuable insights into possible mechanisms of toxicity of anthropogenic contaminants in M. edulis. It is concluded that future research should focus on gill tissue, on protein thiols and on key individual proteins discovered in this study such as calreticulin and arginine kinase which have not previously been considered as biomarkers in aquatic toxicology prior to this study.