CORA
Cork Open Research Archive (CORA) is UCC’s Open Access institutional repository which enables UCC researchers to make their research outputs freely available and accessible.
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Social networking site use and psychological well-being in older adults
(University College Cork, 2026-04-14) O'Carroll, Aoife; Murphy, Mike; Murphy, Gillian; Wall, Judy; Health Service Executive
Older adulthood is often accompanied by life changes such as retirement, bereavement, and declines in health or mobility, which may increase the risk of social isolation and reduced psychological wellbeing (PWB). Social networking sites (SNSs) have the potential to support social connectedness in later life, yet evidence regarding their association with PWB remains mixed. This thesis presents two studies examining how different patterns of SNS engagement relate to PWB in older adults, taking into account individual and social factors. Study 1 comprised a search of five databases (PsychInfo, Web of Science, Medline, International Bibliography of Social Sciences and EBSCO Psychology Databases) to identify studies examining active or passive SNS use and PWB in middle-aged and older adults. The review revealed mixed findings, with both positive and negative associations reported across studies. The association of SNS use on PWB appeared to vary according to cultural, demographic, and contextual factors suggesting that SNS engagement does not have uniform consequences in later life. The evidence base was dominated by cross-sectional designs, limiting causal inference regarding the relationship between SNS use and PWB.
Study 2 employed a mixed-methods design to examine SNS use and PWB in a sample of older adults. Survey data from 101 participants assessed SNS use, perceived social support, shyness, and psychological wellbeing while in-depth interviews with 11 participants explored lived experiences of SNS engagement. Quantitative data were analysed using hierarchical multiple regression, and qualitative data using reflexive thematic analysis. Quantitative analyses showed that SNS use did not directly predict wellbeing; however, both close-tie and weak-tie SNS use were indirectly associated with PWB through perceived social support. Shyness moderated the association between weak-tie SNS use and wellbeing, with higher shyness linked to poorer PWB outcomes. Qualitative findings provided contextual insight into these patterns, illustrating how older adults used SNSs to maintain close relationships, exchange emotional support, engage with shared interests, and reflect nostalgically, while also selectively managing exposure to negative online experiences. Together, these studies suggest that SNS is associated with PWB in later life but this may be linked to the quality of online interactions, the social support they facilitate, and individual differences such as shyness. Older adults appear to engage with SNSs in purposeful and emotionally selective ways, using them to complement rather than replace offline social relationships. Addressing barriers such as low digital confidence and negative online experiences may help maximise the potential PWB benefits of SNS engagement in older adulthood.
¡A nadie le importa (las instituciones) mamaeh!: an examination of the political and economic process of outward foreign direct investment in Latin America
(University College Cork, 2024-12-13) Ladines Azalia, Juan Carlos; Duggan, Niall; Reidy, Theresa; Universidad del Pacifico
The aim of this thesis is to use new institutional economic theory to discuss the progression of market-based institutions in the context of outward investment in Latin America after the economic reforms of the 1990s. This research project aims to provide a better understanding of how market-based institutions were built, especially in the South American region. The specific focus is on market-based institutions related to outward foreign direct investment (OFDI), which in South America is a phenomenon that has only begun to grow in importance in the last decade. This project also seeks to provide insights into what type of institutional relations have been built in the context of outward investment and evaluate the performance of emerging market economies (EMEs) in South America.
The research method involves two stages. The first method is a qualitative comparative analysis, which is used to select the emerging markets for investigation. The second method is a process tracing mechanism, which provides the analytical framework for exploring the outward investment performance of the selected EMEs. The data sources for this project are relevant, accessible, online archives and semi-structured interviews with 20 experts in the field of foreign direct investment.
This research shows that the reforms of the 1990s (the return to democracy and the implementation of a free market) produced uneven results in outward investment. Policy implementation related to OFDI in South America has been based on a series ineffective market-based institutions that allowed elusive activities, corruptive practices, and the blocking of promotion of investment regimes. These market-based institutions are anthropocentric and have resulted in under-the-table political and economic relations. In the absence of robust institutional frameworks, Latin America is therefore a region with complex political and economic interrelations, which highlights the need to further explore institutional reforms. Finally, the growing importance of outward investment from Latin America points to the need to explore internationalisation of markets from an institutional view, which could serve as an asset for navigating the region’s complex dynamics.
Molecular signatures of pre-slaughter stress on the bovine muscle proteome and relevance to eating quality of beef
(University College Cork, 2026-04-28) Hazra, Sudipta Kumar; Kerry, Joseph; Terlouw, Claudia; Hamill, Ruth M.; Teagasc
Pre-slaughter stress compromises animal welfare and meat quality, but the molecular mechanisms underlying this relationship remain partially understood. This thesis investigated how pre-slaughter stress interacts with management practices and nutritional interventions to influence bovine muscle proteomes and meat quality attributes, while developing accessible analytical tools to address the methodological challenges of such multifactorial experimental designs.
Two complementary proteomic studies characterised stress-responsive molecular signatures under contrasting conditions. The first examined semitendinosus muscle sampled at 48 h post-mortem in 81 young bulls subjected to different horn status, rearing conditions, and pre-slaughter stress levels. The second analysed longissimus thoracis muscle sampled at 15 min post-mortem in 32 cull cows exposed to dietary antioxidant supplementation and pre-slaughter stress, with subsequent sensory evaluation.
The findings reveal that stress-induced proteomic signatures are fundamentally context-dependent, varying across three key dimensions. First, muscle-specific responses demonstrated differential sensitivities to management factors depending on functional roles and oxidative capacity. Second, treatment interactions revealed that dietary antioxidants modulated stress responses only under elevated stress conditions, showing minimal effects when stress was limited. Third, temporal dynamics showed that stress effects were pronounced at 15 min post-mortem but largely dissipated by 48 h, whereas chronic management factors (horn status, rearing conditions) established persistent metabolic states.
Despite this context-dependency, both studies converged on common molecular pathways linking stress to meat quality: energy metabolism, protein homeostasis, and redox regulation. Candidate biomarkers showing associations with sensory traits (MSRA, NDUFA4, P4HB, PSMB1) were identified, providing mechanistically grounded targets for validation.
The analytical complexity revealed by these multiple interacting factors motivated development of limmaGenie, a retrieval-augmented generation-based assistant that democratises access to rigorous statistical methods for proteomics researchers. These findings establish that effective stress mitigation strategies must account for individual management histories, muscle properties, and temporal windows to optimise both animal welfare and sustainable meat quality outcomes in beef production systems.
Transgenerational trauma and the gendered body in postcolonial women's writing in Italy
(University College Cork, 2025-11-17) Kane, Noreen; Giuliani, Chiara; Ross, Silvia; Research Ireland; National University of Ireland
Over the past three decades, numerous literary texts have been published by women writers with origins in Italy’s former colonies in the Horn of Africa. These narratives provide a gendered perspective on Italian colonial violence and its legacy, challenging hegemonic Italian collective memory, which minimises Italy’s colonial endeavours. Simultaneously, the texts confront omissions in nationalist memories, which often erase women’s involvement in anticolonial struggles. This thesis explores the representation of transgenerational trauma in ten novels and memoirs, written in Italian and English, by women of Somali and Ethiopian descent. Though the writers come from various backgrounds, with differing relationships to Italy, each of the narratives in question foregrounds the trauma of Italian colonialism and its negotiation through the female body. The authors in question are Somali-born Shirin Ramzanali Fazel, Somali Italian writers Ubah Cristina Ali-Farah and Igiaba Scego, Ethiopian Italian Gabriella Ghermandi, and Ethiopian American Maaza Mengiste.
While this literary corpus has received well-deserved scholarly attention, much analysis assumes a Western or African American theoretical lens. My thesis adds insight into the representation of trauma and resistance in these works by interpreting
them through both traditional trauma theories and memory studies, and Afro-feminist theories that foreground the Ubuntu worldview, emphasising interconnectedness. In three sections, I explore how trauma is transmitted within the family, through
educational institutions, and how literature may intervene positively in the transmission of trauma. I contend that the narratives analysed, in both form and content, provide significant insight into the crucial role communities play in the negotiation of trauma. Whether through connection with ancestors, the more-thanhuman, or with readers, these narratives show that to break the chain of generational trauma, it is imperative to recognise our inherent relationality, which may involve, for many readers, an acknowledgement of our implication in the colonial past.
A combined cellular and bioinformatic approach to investigate RET-dependent and independent neurotrophic factors in models of Parkinson’s disease
(University College Cork, 2025-09-04) Morisho, Jolie Z.; O'Keeffe, Gerard W.; Sullivan, Aideen M.; Collins, Louise; Cure Parkinson's Trust
Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder characterised by the progressive degeneration of midbrain dopaminergic neurons, driven by the pathological accumulation of α-synuclein protein in neurons throughout the nervous system. This neuronal loss underpins the characteristic motor impairments in Parkinson’s disease. Current treatments are merely symptomatic, failing to address the underlying neurodegeneration. As such, there is a need to develop a disease-modifying therapy that can attenuate or reverse disease progression.
One promising method that has received a considerable amount of attention has focused on the delivery of proteins known as neurotrophic factors to the brain, with the aim of preventing the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons. Despite many showing preclinical promise, their clinical applications have been unsuccessful thus far, with clinical trials failing to meet their primary endpoint. GDNF is the most widely studied neurotrophic factor in Parkinson’s disease. It has been proposed that the downregulation of RET, its primary signalling receptor, may underlie the failure of GDNF clinical trials. Using cellular and bioinformatic approaches, this thesis aimed to investigate the efficacy of GDNF, a RET-dependent neurotrophic factor, and GDF5, a RET-independent neurotrophic factor, in Parkinson’s disease.
The main findings of this thesis were that α-synuclein pathology disrupted GDNF/RET signalling in vitro, attenuating downstream activation of pro-survival pathways while also preserving GDNF’s neurite-promoting effects, possibly via alternative pathways. In contrast, GDF5/Smad signalling remained largely resilient to α-synuclein disruptions in vitro but showed reduced neurite outgrowth abilities. Proteomic analysis revealed broad α-synuclein-driven dysregulation of vital neuronal processes, with GDF5 demonstrating a greater restorative capacity than GDNF, particularly in cytoskeletal regulation.
Together, these findings highlight complementary vulnerabilities of the GDNF/RET and GDF5/Smad pathways and support the development of combined neurotrophic strategies for more effective disease-modifying therapies in Parkinson’s disease.