From field to fermentation: characterisation and application of non-dairy cultures in dairy foods

This thesis investigates the phenotypic and genotypic diversity of non-dairy L. lactis strains and their application to dairy fermentations. A bank of non-dairy lactococci were isolated from grass, vegetables and the bovine rumen. Subsequent analysis of these L. lactis strains revealed seven strains to possess cremoris genotypes which did not correlate with their observed phenotypes. Multi-locus sequence typing (MLST) and average nucleotide identity (ANI) highlighted the genetic diversity of lactis and cremoris subspecies. The application of these non-dairy lactococci to cheese production was also assessed. In milk, non-dairy strains formed diverse volatile profiles and selected strains were used as adjuncts in a mini Gouda-type cheese system. Sensory analysis showed non-dairy strains to be strongly associated with the development of off-flavours and bitterness. However, microfluidisation appeared to reduce bitterness. A novel bacteriophage, ɸL47, was isolated using the grass isolate L. lactis ssp. cremoris DPC6860 as a host. The phage, a member of the Siphoviridae, possessed a long tail fiber, previously unseen in dairy lactococcal phages. Genome sequencing revealed ɸL47 to be the largest sequenced lactococcal phage to date and owing to the high % similarity with ɸ949, a second member of the 949 group. Finally, to identify and characterise specific genes which may be important in niche adaptation and for applications to dairy fermentations, comparative genome sequence analysis was performed on L. lactis from corn (DPC6853), the bovine rumen (DPC6853) and grass (DPC6860). This study highlights the contribution of niche specialisation to the intra-species diversity of L. lactis and the adaptation of this organism to different environments. In summary this thesis describes the genetic diversity of L. lactis strains from outside the dairy environment and their potential application in dairy fermentations.

Psychosocial well-being of African migrant children in Ireland: a cultural orientation

This thesis explores the psychosocial wellbeing of sub-Saharan African migrant children in Ireland. A sociocultural ecological (Psychosocial Working Group, 2003) and resilience lens (Masten & Obradovic, 2008; Ungar, 2011) is used to analyse the experiences of African migrant children in Ireland. The research strategy employs a mixed-methods design, combining both an etic and emic perspective. Grounded theory inquiry (Strauss and Corbin, 1994) explores the experiences of African migrant children in Ireland by drawing on multi-sited observations over a period of six months in 2009, and on interviews and focus group discussions conducted with African children (aged 13-18), mothers and fathers. An emically derived ‘African Migrant Child Psychosocial Well-being’ scale was developed by drawing on data gathered through rapid ethnographic (RAE) free listing exercises carried out in Cork, Dublin and Dundalk with sixty-one participants (N=21 adults, N=28 15-18-year-olds, N=12 12-14-year-olds) and three African community key informants to elicit local understandings of psychosocial well-being. This newly developed scale was used alongside standardised measures of well-being to quantitatively measure the psychosocial adjustment of 233 African migrant children in Cork, Dublin and Dundalk aged 11-18. Findings indicate that the psychosocial wellbeing of the study population is satisfactory when benchmarked against the psychosocial health profile of Irish youth (Dooley & Fitzgerald, 2012). These findings are similar to trends reported in international literature in this field (Georgiades et al., 2006; Gonneke, Stevens, Vollebergh, 2008; Sampson et al., 2005). Study findings have implications for advancing psychosocial research methods with non-Western populations and on informing the practice of Irish professionals, mainly in the areas of teaching, psychology and community work.

Realisable climate change narratives in public discourse: an East/West comparative analysis of environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) as a response to global climate change

This thesis looks at how non-experts develop an opinion on climate change, and how those opinions could be changed by public discourse. I use Hubert Dreyfus’ account of skill acquisition to distinguish between experts and non-experts. I then use a combination of Walter Fisher’s narrative paradigm and the hermeneutics of Paul Ricœur to explore how non-experts form opinions, and how public narratives can provide a point of critique. In order to develop robust narratives, they must be financially realistic. I therefore consider the burgeoning field of environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) analysis as a way of informing realistic public narratives. I identify a potential problem with this approach: the Western assumptions of ESG analysis might make for public narratives that are not convincing to a non-Western audience. I then demonstrate how elements of the Chinese tradition, the Confucian, Neo-Confucian, and Daoist schools, as presented by David Hall and Roger Ames, can provide alternative assumptions to ESG analysis so that the public narratives will be more culturally adaptable. This research contributes to the discipline by bringing disparate traditions together in a unique way, into a practical project with a view towards applications. I conclude by considering avenues for further research.

Akt signal transduction dysfunction in the 3xTg-AD mouse model of Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is an incurable neurodegenerative disorder, accounting for over 60% of all cases of dementia. The primary risk factor for AD is age, however several genetic and environmental factors are also involved. The pathological characteristics of AD include extracellular deposition of the beta-amyloid peptide (Aβ) and intraneuronal accumulation of neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) made of aggregated paired helical filaments (PHFs) of the hyperphosphorylated tau protein, along with synaptic loss and neuronal death. There are numerous biochemical mechanisms involved in AD pathogenesis, however the reigning hypothesis points to toxic oligomeric Aβ species as the primary causative factor in a cascade of events leading to neuronal stress and dyshomeostasis that initiate abnormal regulation of tau. The insulin and IGF-1 receptors (IR, IGF-1R) are the primary activators of PI3- K/Akt through which they regulate cell growth, development, glucose metabolism, and learning and memory. Work in our lab and others shows increased Akt activity and phosphorylation of its downstream targets in AD brain, along with insulin and insulin-like growth factor-1 signalling (IIS) dysfunction. This is supported by studies of AD models in vivo and in vitro. Our group and others hypothesise that Aβ activates Akt through IIS to initiate a negative feedback mechanism that desensitises neurons to insulin/IGF-1, and sustains activation of Akt. In this study the functions of endogenous Akt, IR, and the insulin receptor substrate (IRS-1) were examined in relationship to Aβ and tau pathology in the 3xTg-AD mouse model, which contains three mutant human transgenes associated with familial AD or dementia. The 3xTg-AD mouse develops Aβ and tau pathology in a spatiotemporal manner that best recapitulates the progression of AD in human brain. Western blotting and immunofluorescent microscopy techniques were utilised in vivo and in vitro, to examine the relationship between IIS, Akt, and AD pathology. I first characterised in detail AD pathology in 3xTg-AD mice, where an age-related accumulation of intraneuronal Aβ and tau was observed in the hippocampal formation, amygdala, and entorhinal cortex, and at late stages (18 months), extracellular amyloid plaques and NFTs, primarily in the subiculum and the CA1 layer of the hippocampal formation. Increased activity of Akt, detected with antibody to phosphoSer473-Akt, was increased in 3xTg-AD mice compared to age-matched non-transgenic mice (non-Tg), and in direct correlation to the accumulation of Aβ and tau in neuronal somatodendritic compartments. Akt phosphorylates tau at residue Ser214 within a highly specific consensus sequence for Akt phosphorylation, and phosphoSer214-tau strongly decreases microtubule (MT) stabilisation by preventing tau-MT binding. PhosphoSer214-tau increased concomitantly with this in the same age-related and region-specific fashion. Polarisation of tau phosphorylation was observed, where PHF-1 (tauSer396/404) and phosphoSer214-tau both appeared early in 3xTg-AD mice in distinct neuronal compartments: PHF-1 in axons, and phosphoSer214-tau in neuronal soma and dendrites. At 18 months, phosphoSer214-tau strongly colocalised with NFTs positive for the PHF- 1 and AT8 (tauSer202/Thr205) phosphoepitopes. IR was decreased with age in 3xTg-AD brain and in comparison to age-matched non-Tg, and this was specific for brain regions containing Aβ, tau, and hyperactive Akt. IRS-1 was similarly decreased, and both proteins showed altered subcellular distribution. Phosphorylation of IRS-1Ser312 is a strong indicator of IIS dysfunction and insulin resistance, and was increased in 3xTg-AD mice with age and in relation to pathology. Of particular note was our observation that abberant IIS and Akt signalling in 3xTg-AD brain related to Aβ and tau pathology on a gross anatomical level, and specifically localised to the brain regions and circuitry of the perforant path. Finally, I conducted a preliminary study of the effects of synthetic Aβ oligomers on embryonic rat hippocampus neuronal cultures to support these results and those in the literature. Taken together, these novel findings provide evidence for IIS and Akt signal transduction dysfunction as the missing link between Aβ and tau pathogenesis, and contribute to the overall understanding of the biochemical mechanisms of AD.

The contribution of warlordism to the disintegration of the western Roman army (c. AD 395-480)

My thesis investigates the dynamics behind the changing nature of the leadership of the western Roman army in the fifth century through the concept of ‘warlordism’. I carried this out by analyzing those cases of insubordination and military unrest in the officer class of the western Roman army, which can be shown to be linked to the slow decline of central authority and the imperial office in the period 395-480. My thesis demonstrates that theories of ‘Warlordism’, as developed in social sciences, can be useful for both the late Imperial west as for other eras of ancient history, such as the late Roman republic. Warlordism was a way of continuing politics, if necessary by military means, when commanders found themselves outside the legitimate framework. Unlike the case of usurpation of the imperial office, when there was little hope of achieving permanent recognition and acceptance, it offered insubordinate officers a chance of returning to the ruling imperial regime depending on circumstances and the success of their resistance. I propose that warlordism functioned as an alternative to usurpation, a tool for military dissidence, fuelled by an economy of violence. Contrary to modern warlordism, the warlordism of the fifth century AD represented a transient phase which no imperial commander was willing to prolong indefinitely. At some stage, given the means, warlords in the western Roman army wanted to become part of the imperial echelon again. Yet these alternative methods of violent opposition, and the acquisition of force through private means, ensured the breakdown of the state’s monopoly on violence and the disintegration of centralized armies. What started as an accidental revolution became a new form of military rule.

Reframing Chinese animation: from classicism to postmodernism in post-1949 non-commercial Chinese animated films

This thesis focuses on Chinese non-commercial animated films produced from 1949 to date, with the aim of remapping and reframing Chinese animation in the light of existing theories, critiques, and frameworks drawn from studies in animation, film, and screen media. I suggest that Chinese animation has experienced three aesthetic transformations since 1949, primarily influenced by traditional Chinese culture, by Western modernist art and literature and, most recently, by postmodernism, respectively. Thus, the research traces and thoroughly investigates these three distinctive phases of Chinese animation in chronological order, from the classical period (1950s– 1980s) to modernism (1980s–2000s) and postmodernism (after 2000s). More in detail, I first rethink and re-evaluate the success of classical Chinese animation and the Chinese school of animation and, at the same time, I explore the influence of the political situation of the time on Chinese animation. Through careful analysis of A Da (1934–87) and other Chinese animators’ practices and theory, then, I argue that a remarkable modernist transformation took place in Chinese animation between the 1980s and 2000s, mainly driven by Western modernism and the Chinese “cultural fever” movement. Finally, through a discussion of the latest non-commercial animations produced after 2005, and especially those of Bu Hua (1973– ), for the first time I classify and theorize contemporary Chinese animations within a postmodern framework. By reframing existing views and broadening the scope of the analysis to encompass new areas and frameworks, this thesis aims to provide the reader with a comprehensive and systematic understanding of post-1949 Chinese animation and to offer an original contribute to scholarship, also working as a starting point for further research in this area.