University College Cork

About: University College Cork is a education organization based out in Cork, Ireland. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Irish. The organization has 12056 authors who have published 28452 publications receiving 958414 citations. The organization is also known as: Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh & National University of Ireland, Cork.

Configuring participation: on how we involve people in design

Abstract: The term 'participation' is traditionally used in HCI to describe the involvement of users and stakeholders in design processes, with a pretext of distributing control to participants to shape their technological future. In this paper we ask whether these values can hold up in practice, particularly as participation takes on new meanings and incorporates new perspectives. We argue that much HCI research leans towards configuring participation. In exploring this claim we explore three questions that we consider important for understanding how HCI configures participation; Who initiates, directs and benefits from user participation in design? In what forms does user participation occur? How is control shared with users in design? In answering these questions we consider the conceptual, ethical and pragmatic problems this raises for current participatory HCI research. Finally, we offer directions for future work explicitly dealing with the configuration of participation.

Risk factors for small for gestational age infants.

Abstract: There are many established risk factors for babies who are small for gestational age (SGA) by population birth weight centiles (usually defined as <10th centile). The confirmed maternal risk factors include short stature, low weight, Indian or Asian ethnicity, nulliparity, mother born SGA, cigarette smoking and cocaine use. Maternal medical history of: chronic hypertension, renal disease, anti-phospholipid syndrome and malaria are associated with increased SGA. Risk factors developing in pregnancy include heavy bleeding in early pregnancy, placental abruption, pre-eclampsia and gestational hypertension. A short or very long inter-pregnancy interval, previous SGA infant or previous stillbirth are also risk factors. Paternal factors including changed paternity, short stature and father born SGA also contribute. Factors associated with reduced risk of SGA or increased birth weight include high maternal milk consumption and high intakes of green leafy vegetables and fruit. Future studies need to investigate risk factors for babies SGA by customised centiles as these babies have greater morbidity and mortality than babies defined as SGA by population centiles.

Identification of genetically and oceanographically distinct blooms of jellyfish

Abstract: Reports of nuisance jellyfish blooms have increased worldwide during the last half-century, but the possible causes remain unclear. A persistent difficulty lies in identifying whether blooms occur owing to local or regional processes. This issue can be resolved, in part, by establishing the geographical scales of connectivity among locations, which may be addressed using genetic analyses and oceanographic modelling. We used landscape genetics and Lagrangian modelling of oceanographic dispersal to explore patterns of connectivity in the scyphozoan jellyfish Rhizostoma octopus , which occurs en masse at locations in the Irish Sea and northeastern Atlantic. We found significant genetic structure distinguishing three populations, with both consistencies and inconsistencies with prevailing physical oceanographic patterns. Our analyses identify locations where blooms occur in apparently geographically isolated populations, locations where blooms may be the source or result of migrants, and a location where blooms do not occur consistently and jellyfish are mostly immigrant. Our interdisciplinary approach thus provides a means to ascertain the geographical origins of jellyfish in outbreaks, which may have wide utility as increased international efforts investigate jellyfish blooms.