Digital Commons Network^™

Teaching Primary And Secondary Computing: A Comparative Study Of Classroom Practices And Resources In The Uk And Ireland, Robert Whyte, Diana Kirby, Elizabeth Cole, Tom Crick, Nicola Looker, Keith Quille, Sue Sentance

Research Outputs: 2025-Present

Background and Context: As more K–12 teachers are required to teach computing, there is a need to understand how it is enacted in classrooms. In addition, many non-specialists are teaching computing for the first time. Objective: We set out to better understand how computing is currently being taught across five jurisdictions in the UK and Ireland. The aim of the study was to understand CS teaching practices, including the use of certain approaches and resources in the computing classroom. Method: We analysed survey data from 475 primary and secondary teachers across a number of relevant categories: teachers’ use of CS …

Optimizing Ucs Prediction Models Through Xai-Based Feature Selection In Soil Stabilization, Ahmed Mohammed Awad Mohammed, Omayma Husain, Mosab Hamdan, Abdalmomen Mohammed, Abdullah Ansari, Atef Badr, Abubakar Elsafi, Abubakr Siddig

Research Outputs: 2025-Present

Unconfined Compressive Strength (UCS) is a key parameter for the assessment of the stability and performance of stabilized soils, yet traditional laboratory testing is both time and resource intensive. In this study, an interpretable machine learning approach to UCS prediction is presented, pairing five models (Random Forest (RF), Gradient Boosting (GB), Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGB), CatBoost, and K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN)) with SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) for enhanced interpretability and to guide feature removal. A complete dataset of 12 geotechnical and chemical parameters, i.e., Atterberg limits, compaction properties, stabilizer chemistry, dosage, curing time, was used to train and test the models. …

Holographic Sensors For The Detection Of Volatile Organic Compounds, Graceson Antony

Doctoral

Volatile organic compound (VOC) monitoring at parts-per-million (ppm) concentration levels is essential for occupational safety, indoor air quality, and regulatory compliance. Although holographic gas sensors have been widely investigated, most operate in reflection mode as qualitative visual indicators, with limited quantitative evaluation of sensing mechanisms and scarce systematic demonstrations of repeatable multi-cycle validation for VOCs at ppm concentrations. A physics-based optimisation framework for transmission-mode holographic gas sensors which can bridge this gap has remained largely undeveloped.

This thesis presents the development and optimisation of real-time transmission-mode volume phase transmission holographic grating (VPTHG) sensors for ppm-level VOC detection. A comprehensive theoretical …

Red-Sensitive Photopolymerizable Glass For Fabrication Of Holographic Optical Elements, Jamshed Aftab, Izabela Naydenova, Tatsiana Mikulchyk

Research Outputs: 2025-Present

Water-resistant photopolymerizable glass, which represents a photopolymerizable hybrid sol–gel (PHSG) material, has emerged as a compelling platform for holographic optical elements fabrication (HOEs), owing to its exceptional mechanical and thermal robustness with high holographic recording performance. Until now, PHSG compositions have been limited to blue/green-sensitive systems, despite significant interest in extending sensitivity into the red spectral region. Here, we report the first holographic photopolymerizable glass with sensitivity to red light, achieved through the incorporation of methylene blue (MB) as a photosensitizer and N-phenylglycine (NPG) as a co-initiator, with an optimal MB/NPG ratio of 1:150. This PHSG composition is capable of …

Sustainable Remediation Of Antibiotic Contaminants Using Engineered Biochar And Composite Materials, Arvind Kumar, Prerna Sunar, Duraisamy Ramamoorthy, Swapnamoy Dutta, Ravikant Verma, Km Smriti Jaiswal, Krishna Kumar Jaiswal, Vinod Kumar, Amit K. Jaiswal, Mahaveer D. Kurkuri

Research Outputs: 2025-Present

Antibiotic contamination is a growing global crisis due to widespread use and unregulated disposal, contributing to the proliferation of antibiotic-resistant microbes and ecological risks. This review critically evaluates antibiotic contamination and its impact on the environment and human health. Biochar and modified biochar modulate antibiotic resistance gene (ARG) dynamics and the destruction of ARG transfer. Optimization of biochar properties includes surface chemistry, structure, synthesis process, and surface engineering to enhance antibiotic adsorption and degradation. Therefore, a comprehensive evaluation of biochar and modified biochar for the adsorption and degradation of different antibiotics under diverse water and soil chemistry conditions is needed. …

Thermophilic Microorganisms For Bioremediation Of Industrial Pollutants Including Hydrocarbons And Heavy Metals, Isha Dharsandia, Narendra Kumar, Ananya Tiwari, Amit K. Jaiswal

Research Outputs: 2025-Present

Industrialization and urbanization have led to the constant discharge of hazardous pollutants such as effluents, hydrocarbons, and heavy metals, which pose a grave threat to ecological balance and human beings' well-being. Traditional physiochemical techniques for the treatment of environmental pollutants are energy-intensive, expensive, and inefficient in extreme environments. Hence, there is a need to explore alternative strategies to address the above problems. Thermophiles are microorganisms that grow in high temperatures, and they have recently been regarded as viable sources for bioremediation due to their metabolic resilience, enzyme stability, and resistance to industrial conditions. The current paper presents an in-depth literature …

Investigation Of Different Aeration Strategies For The Production Of Kombucha With Defined Co-Cultures, Marie Ludszuweit, Leon Bender, Gayatri Mehta, Martin Hageböck, Brian Gibson, Martin Senz

Research Outputs: 2025-Present

Kombucha fermentation is a complex process influenced by many different process parameters and the dynamics of the microorganisms present. Since no universally established standards exist for large-scale production of kombucha, manufacturers still need to acquire the knowledge to establish controllable and reproducible processes. The aim of this study was to investigate the extent to which the kombucha fermentation process can be influenced by varying the oxygenation regime and the initial pH value. For this purpose, co-culture fermentations with the yeast Zygosaccharomyces bailii and the acetic acid bacterium Komagataeibacter hansenii were carried out under defined conditions, varying the type and intensity …

A Virtual Model Of Data Centre Cooling, Younis Osama Abdelsalam, Tim Persoons, Sajad Alimohammadi

Research Outputs: 2025-Present

This study presents a calibrated, hybrid spreadsheet-based model developed to simulate the cooling energy consumption of a commercial-scale data centre in Dublin, Ireland. The model leverages five years of high-resolution, sub metered data, including chilled water flow rates, ambient conditions, and IT electrical load, offering a rare empirical foundation for system-level energy analysis. Existing modelling approaches often rely on simplified laboratory case studies, synthetic datasets, or isolated component analysis, limiting their relevance to operational facilities. This study introduces an innovative hybrid modelling framework that bridges the gap between black-box machine learning and rigid physics-only simulations. A key innovation is the …

Unresolved Challenges Of Fuel Cell Propulsion Systems In Urban Air Mobility: An Mbse-Based Systematic Literature Review, Johannes Bachler, Stephen Wright, Kari T. Koskinen

Research Outputs: 2025-Present

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the unresolved challenges in fuel cell propulsion system integration in small-category VTOL-capable aircraft, addressing a critical gap in the existing literature by elaborating an MBSE-based systematic literature review with the PRISMA content analysis strategy. The methodology reviewed 122 papers in peer-reviewed journals published from 2000 to 2024 and included keyword research in four relevant publication platforms before analyzing the papers in a deductive MBSE V-model strategy combined with an inductive, data-driven research analysis. The results reveal a significant misalignment between identified barriers and proposed future research, indicating that current R&D efforts are …

Efficient And Fair Resource Unit(Ru) Allocation Methods For The Ofdma Mechanism Under Ieee 802.11ax, Yang Yu

Doctoral

The IEEE 802.11ax standard was approved in February 2021. This standard allows users to access different channel bandwidths to transmit their packets under the Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) mechanism. As the number of Internet users and the number of Internet applications increase, the allocation of channel resources has been a challenge in WLANs. Different types of applications, such as real-time video conferencing, online gaming and large-scale data transfers, generate different requirements in terms of throughput, latency and reliability. Consequently, the diversity in users’ channel bandwidth demands is increasing. Under the OFDMA mechanism, the packets can be allocated into …

Sharing Patient-Generated Health Data With Electronic Health Record: A Standardised Provenance And Context-Rich Information Model And Clinician Evaluation, Abdullahi Abubakar Kawu

Dissertations

With the advent of Patient-Generated Health Data (PGHD) through wearable, mobile, and home monitoring systems, there is immense potential for ongoing monitoring and patient engagement. But integrating PGHD with Electronic Health Record (EHR) is challenged by sub-optimal support for contextual metadata and its relevant elements, lack of semantic interoperability among disparate systems, poor knowledge regarding the factors that impact clinician acceptance, and absence of globally agreed standards for data exchange. This thesis explores how contextually relevant patient-generated health data can be shared with EHRs through a FAIR standardized information model that ensures semantic and syntactic interoperability.

The study addresses six …

Phytoremediation Potential Of Selected Plant Species (Ambrosia Artemisiifolia L. And Erigeron Canadensis L.) For Reducing Priority Heavy Metal And Metalloid (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Pb, Zn) Contamination In Anthropogenically Impacted Soils Of Ukraine, Volodymyr Laptiev

Theses

Soil contamination with priority heavy metals and metalloids of anthropogenic origin represents one of the most pressing environmental challenges of the present day, directly associated with risks to public health, ecosystem degradation, and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly those of the World Health Organization and the United Nations aimed at ensuring a healthy environment, safe ecosystems, and sustainable land management. Under conditions of long-term technogenic pressure, compounded by the additional impact of military activities on the territory of Ukraine, the search for scientifically substantiated, environmentally safe, and economically feasible approaches to reducing soil contamination has become especially …

The Past, Present, And Future Of Customer Knowledge Management: A Review And Research Agenda, Victoria Y. Ourzik

Research Outputs: 2025-Present

We develop and present a framework for research in customer knowledge management (CKM) that synthesizes insights from a comprehensive literature review spanning 2000 to 2024. This framework highlights the determinants, impacts, and moderators shaping CKM and its role in contemporary organizations. Using this approach, we organize and categorize existing research across various disciplines, identifying multiple definitions of customer knowledge based on their theoretical underpinnings and research fields. Building on this synthesis, we propose an interdisciplinary definition of the CKM construct that integrates diverse perspectives. Finally, we outline evolving issues within CKM, highlight key research gaps, and set a forward-looking agenda …

An Examination Of University Students’ Experiences Of Period Poverty And Reusable Period Products, Kate Dolan Crowley Ms, Margaret Linehan Prof, Alison Merrotsy Dr

Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies

Period poverty is a persistent international public health struggle affecting millions of people who menstruate. Most academic studies on how mensuration effects university students have been completed in low-to-middle income countries and, specifically, there is a lack of studies conducted in high-income countries (Ross, 2021). The current study was conducted with students in a multi-campus university in the south and southwest of Ireland during 2024. The study had two main aims, first, to explore the students’ attitudes and experiences of period poverty, and second, to investigate their attitudes towards reusable period products.

A mixed methods study was used to collect …

Holding The Past Carefully In Players’ Hands: Historically-Structured Boardgames And The Troubles In History Education, Hugh D. O'Donnell

Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies

Controversial histories, such as the Troubles in Northern Ireland, are often excluded from formal education, forming a "null curriculum" due to their political sensitivity, emotional difficulty, and risk of bias or re-traumatising students. To address this, Historically-Structured Boardgames (HSBGs) offer an innovative pedagogical approach, engaging students cognitively and emotionally while navigating sensitive historical terrain.

HSBGs like "The Troubles: Shadow War in Northern Ireland 1964-1998" embed players within historically accurate socio-political and economic structures, emphasising player agency and the consequences of their actions. Players assume roles from six factions, confronting ethically charged "Narrative Cards" representing critical historical decision points. The game's …

The Road To Winning This Battle: A Corpus Informed Exploration Of Metaphor In The National Addresses Of Leo Varadkar And Micheál Martin During The Covid-19 Pandemic (2020–2022), Caoimhe Power Gallagher

Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies

The first case of the novel Covid-19 virus reached the island of Ireland in February 2020. The nation-focused response was one of the most striking characteristics that most countries shared throughout the pandemic. Corpus-linguistic research on Covid-19 communication is reasonably well established across various contexts. However, it is under researched in Ireland. Building trust and a successful national response is very much dependent on how heads of government confront health emergencies through public communications. Political leaders across the world often use metaphors in their speeches to strategically control their audiences’ perceptions of various topics. Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, Deputy Leo …

Nanoparticle-Based Lateral Flow Immunoassays For Detecting Marine Biotoxins In Seafood: A Systematic Review Of Trends In Development Over Two Decades, Perveen Akhtar, Gayathree Thenuwara, Hugh J. Byrne, Furong Tian, Bilal Javed

Research Outputs: 2025-Present

Marine and freshwater biotoxins threaten public health and seafood safety due to their tendency to accumulate in fish and shellfish. This systematic literature review summarises findings from 51 peer-reviewed studies published between 2004 and 2025 that focus on nanoparticle-enhanced lateral flow immunoassays (LFIAs) for toxin detection. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were by far the most used label, employed in ∼75 % of studies, which consistently delivered the lowest limits of detection (LODs) as low as 0.03 ng/ml for okadaic acid detection. Despite increasing concerns over the co-occurrence of multiple toxins, ∼88 % of the studies were based on single-analyte detection, only …

Optimisation Of Laminar Jet Flow Microencapsulation Variables To Enhance The Anthocyanin Retention And Antioxidant Function Of Sohiong, Roshiya Nongmaithem, Raju Sasikumar, Kaviarasu G., Selva Kumar T., Ravikumar Rajarathinam, Paras Sharma, Sheena Haorongbam, Kowsalya T., K. Senthilkumar, Amit K. Jaiswal

Research Outputs: 2025-Present

Anthocyanins are valuable dietary elements with biological functions and health-promoting effects. However, there are technological barriers to their use in the food industry, primarily due to their poor stability and susceptibility to environmental factors, such as oxygen, temperature, pH, and light, which can significantly affect the physicochemical characteristics of the final food products. In this study, the microencapsulation of an anthocyanin extract from sohiong fruits was performed using a laminar jet flow vibration nozzle, with calcium chloride as a hardening agent and sodium alginate as a polymer. To produce calcium-alginate microbeads with a high anthocyanin content and favourable morphological characteristics, …

Synergistic Ph-Shift And Heat Treatment For The Recovery Of Protein Isolates From Ham Processing Brine: Evaluation Of Protein Ingredient Quality, Structure, And Functional Properties, Anim Ujong, Carlos Álvarez, Brijesh K. Tiwari, Shay Hannon, Uma Tiwari

Research Outputs: 2025-Present

Ham processing generates significant volumes of brine, a saline wastewater with untapped potential. This study compared three protein recovery methods: direct centrifugation, moderate heat treatment (75 °C), and a combined pH-shift-mild heat (PSMH) approach (65 °C). Both the PSMH method and moderate heat precipitation produced protein concentrates with the highest initial protein contents (62.15%–62.81%), which increased to 91.65%–95.59% purity after desalting, with NaCl levels reduced to <1.5%. Amino acid analysis revealed that PSMH-derived proteins had the highest total amino acid content (96.58 g/100 g). Sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis confirmed improved recovery of muscle proteins, while Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy indicated that moderate heat treatment reduced the α-helix/β-sheet ratio. Proteins recovered using PSMH exhibited the highest water and fat binding capacities and maintained solubility across a broad pH range. They also exhibited strong foaming ability, although they showed slightly lower foam stability than proteins recovered by other methods, and they demonstrated emulsifying properties that were optimal under mildly alkaline conditions. Overall, PSMH presents a sustainable and efficient strategy for recovering functional proteins from ham brine for use in food and feed applications.

Characterization Of Nutritional And Flavor Profiles Of Aromatic Black Rice, India, Babli Waribam, Raju Sasikumar, T. Selva Kumar, Phani Kumar Garlapati, Sandeep Janghu, S. Chakkaravarthi, Paul Mansingh, Vidisha Tomer, Amit K. Jaiswal

Research Outputs: 2025-Present

Chakhao is an indigenous aromatic black rice variety from Manipur, India, valued for its distinctive flavor, high anthocyanin content, and associated health benefits. Despite its geographical indication status, limited information exists on how regional cultivation conditions influence its compositional attributes. This study characterizes and compares the nutritional composition, mineral content, volatile profile, and fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) composition of Chakhao sourced from five major cultivation regions in Manipur. Proximate analysis quantified moisture, protein, ash, fiber, fat, and carbohydrate content, whereas GC-MS/MS and ICP-MS were employed to profile volatile compounds, FAMEs, and mineral elements. Carbohydrates were the predominant macronutrient (73.88%–74.21%), …

3d-Vit-Unet: 3d Vision Transformer Based Unet-Like Model For Volumetric Brain Tumor Segmentation, Sikandar Afridi, Atif Jan, Muhammad Abeer Irfan, Muhammad Irfan Khattak, Taimur Ahmed Khan

Research Outputs: 2025-Present

Accurate volumetric segmentation of 3D medical imaging modalities is critical for therapy planning and clinical diagnosis, particularly for brain tumor delineation. Traditional convolutional neural network (CNN)-based architectures face challenges while capturing global contextual information and modeling long-range dependencies in complex 3D volumetric data, limiting their segmentation performance. Transformer-based models have emerged as promising alternatives to CNNs for such tasks, addressing their limitations in capturing global spatial dependencies. We propose 3D-ViT-UNet, a novel U-shaped vision transformer (ViT)-based encoder-decoder architecture for end-to-end volumetric brain tumor segmentation. The model employs 3D Window Multi-Head Self-Attention (3D-W-MSA) to capture local features and a 3D Dilated-Window …

Development Of An Active Crosslinked Nanocomposite Film Based On Gelatin-Ethyl Cellulose, Trans-Cinnamaldehyde, And Silver Nanoparticles For The Preservation Of Sliced Meat, Elham Sarmast, Shiv Shankar, Stephane Salmieri, Sahra Amel Rahmouni, Monique Lacroix

Research Outputs: 2025-Present

This study aimed to develop a novel bioactive biobased packaging film combining gelatin (G) and ethyl cellulose (EC), cardanol and glycerol as plasticizers, trans-cinnamaldehyde (TCA) as a crosslinker/bioactive compound, and silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) as bioactive agents. The degree of crosslinking, mechanical and thermal properties, water solubility (WS), and water vapor permeability (WVP) of the films were analyzed. Molecular interactions within the film matrix were determined by FTIR spectroscopy. The G-EC film, in a 1:2 weight ratio, exhibited improved physicochemical properties compared to the pure G film, with a low WS (7.8%). The incorporation of TCA and AgNPs—to form bioactive nanocomposite …

Decision Support Impact And Error Prediction In Control Room: A Behavioural Data Analysis, Chidera W. Amazu, Joseph Mietkiewicz, Ammar N. Abbas, Gabriele Baldissone, Davide Fissore, Micaela Demichela, Anders L. Madsen, Maria Chiara Leva

Research Outputs: 2025-Present

Data from psychophysiological measures can offer new insight into control room operators’ behaviour, cognition, and mental workload status. This is particularly helpful when assessing capacity to respond to critical plant conditions such as alarm response scenarios. However, wearable tools such as eye tracking and electroencephalography caps can be perceived as intrusive and unsuitable for daily operations. Therefore, this article examines the potential of using real-time data from process and operator-system interactions during abnormal scenarios, recorded and retrieved from the distributed control system’s historian or process log, to provide insight into operator behaviour and predict their response outcomes without intruding on …

Browser-Based Phishing Detection System Using Modern Web Technologies, Muhammad Arshad, Beena Sherin Kuriakose, Choo Wou Onn, Farhan Ahmad Siddiqui, Mohammad Shahid Kamal

Research Outputs: 2025-Present

Phishing remains one of the most persistent cybersecurity threats, exploiting human trust to steal sensitive information through deceptive websites. Traditional detection methods, reliant on blacklists and reactive reporting, offer limited protection against rapidly evolving zero-day attacks. To address these challenges, this study proposes and evaluates a hybrid browser-resident phishing detection framework that combines three complementary detection mechanisms: a locally executed Random Forest model using URL lexical features, lightweight real-time DOM structure analysis, and VirusTotal’s multi-engine reputation service. Communication between the client and server is optimised using gRPC over the QUIC protocol, ensuring secure, high-performance data exchange with built-in retry mechanisms …

Biomechanical Advancements In Hydroxyapatite, Magnesium-Substituted Hydroxyapatite, And Strontium-Substituted Hydroxyapatite In Clinical And Non-Clinical Studies For Maxillofacial Bone Tissue Engineering: A Review, Elham Zafarrazzaghnia, Stuart Hampshire, Aran Rafferty, Dermot Brabazon, Eamonn Debarra, Maura Kelleher

Articles

Hydroxyapatite (HA) is a bioceramic known for its bioactivity and osteoconductivity, which should make it an ideal candidate for maxillofacial bone regeneration. However, its brittleness limits its suitability for load-bearing applications. Over recent decades, substantial efforts have focused on enhancing its performance, particularly through ionic substitution, including magnesium-substituted HA (Mg-HA) and strontium-substituted HA (Sr-HA). This review summarises the available information on the structural, physical and mechanical properties of facial bones (maxilla, mandible, zygoma and frontal bone). The crystal structure, physical, and mechanical properties and in-vitro biological responses of dense and porous HA, Mg-HA and Sr-HA ceramics are described, with particular …

From Idea To Implementation: Evaluating The Influence Of Large Language Models In Software Development—An Opinion Paper, Sargam Yadav, Asifa Mehmood Qureshi, Abhishek Kaushik, Shubham Sharma, Roisin Loughran, Subramaniam Kazhuparambil, Andrew Shaw, Mohammed Sabry, Niamh St John Lynch, Nikhil Singh, Padraic O'Hara, Pranay Jaiswal, Roshan Chandru, David Lillis

Research Outputs: 2025-Present

The introduction of transformer architecture was a turning point in natural language processing (NLP). Models based on the transformer architecture, such as bidirectional encoder representations from transformers (BERT) and generative pretrained transformer (GPT), have gained widespread popularity in various applications such as software development and education. The availability of large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT and Bard to the general public has showcased the tremendous potential of these models and encouraged their integration into various domains such as software development, for tasks such as code generation, debugging, and documentation generation. In this study, opinions from 11 experts regarding their …

Are Ocular Markers Of Sun Exposure Associated With Skin Cancer? A Cross-Sectional Analysis Of The Busselton Healthy Ageing Study, Gareth Lingham, Vinay Kumar Nilagiri, Holly Brown, Chrianna Bharat, Samantha S.Y. Lee, Maria Franchina, Michael Hunter, Kevin Murray, David Alonso-Caneiro, Catherine M. Olsen, David C. Whiteman, David A. Mackey

Research Outputs: 2025-Present

Background: Higher past sun or ultraviolet radiation exposure increases the risk of skin cancer and three common ocular findings: pterygium, conjunctival ultraviolet autofluorescence (CUVAF) and myopia. We investigated whether ocular markers of past sun exposure are associated with a history of skin cancer. Methods: A cross-sectional study of participants who attended the Phase 2 examination of the Busselton Healthy Ageing Study in Western Australia (2016–2022). Myopia was determined from autorefraction and pterygium and CUVAF from photographs of the anterior eye. Past diagnosis of a skin cancer was obtained from linked hospitalisation and cancer registry data (melanoma) or combining linked and …

Human Capability Development In Irish Tech Smes, Anna Zherdeva

Doctoral

Purpose: SMEs are the backbone of the European economic model and represent 99.8% of all businesses, highlighting the importance of research that assesses challenges and opportunities faced by SMEs. The reviewed literature revealed a significant lack of research on how SMEs can develop management, teamwork, and team-building skills in the context of the twin transition (i.e., digital and green transitions), particularly regarding digital transformation and its impact on economic development and business cooperation. Researchers have presented evidence of the difficulties SMEs face in competing with corporations due to numerous constraints, including a lack of investment and qualified human resources. To …

Recent Advances In High Surface Area Porous Materials For Electrochemical Energy Storage Devices, Anu Prathap Mylamparambil Udayan, Balwinder Kaur, Anandhakumar Sundaramurthy, Kirtanjot Kaur, Baljit Singh

Research Outputs: 2025-Present

Electrochemical energy storage devices can be classified into two categories: supercapacitors and rechargeable batteries. These devices are designed to store and release energy, finding applications in both portable electronics and electrical vehicles. To remain competitive, a material must possess high energy density (Ed) and power density (Pd), allowing for higher mileage, faster charging, and slower discharge. Another crucial factor to consider is the overall weight/volume reduction and the material's high mechanical strength. Recently, porous carbon-based materials and multifunctional materials with high mechanical strength, flexibility, and electrical properties have garnered significant attention. This review summarizes recent developments in high surface area …

Imperfections And Scars: The Aesthetics Of Curated Decay In Urban Conservation: The Aesthetics Of Curated Decay In Urban Conservation, Ioana Moldovan, Connell Vaughan, Michael O’Hara, Silivan Moldovan, Ioana Cecălășan

Research Outputs: 2025-Present

This paper explores the value of imperfections and curated decay in the conservation of architecture and public art as vehicles of cultural memory. While conventional heritage practice treats physical degradation as a threat, newer conservation ethics argue for embracing material impermanence within an aesthetics of care. We examine how acknowledging patina, weathering, and even structural decline can become an act of care, maintaining the “spirit” and authenticity of a place. The theoretical framework integrated the aesthetics of imperfection, including concepts like the Japanese wabi-sabi, which finds beauty in the incomplete and impermanent, critical heritage theory (which questions whose memories and …