Digital Commons Network^™

Work Placement Reflective Assessments And Employability Enhanced Through Highlighting Graduate Attributes, Julie Dunne

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This paper reports on a study which investigated the effect of activities to promote awareness of specific prioritised graduate attributes on the quality of reflection displayed in student work-placement reflective blog assessments. The focus of the paper is on the results from a thematic analysis of reflective writing assisted by NVivo software from a control and research group, using the a priori codes of ‘reflection’ and ‘graduate attributes’, as part of a Participatory Action Research study. The findings show an increase in reflection associated with graduate attributes in the research group compared to the control group. More importantly, there is …

The Antibacterial Activity Of Metal Complexes Containing 1, 10-Phenanthroline: Potential As Alternatire Therapeutics In The Era Of Antibiotic Resistance, Livia Viganon, Orla L. Howe, Pauraic Mccarron, Malachy Mccann, Michael Devereux

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The “antibiotic era”, characterized by the overuse and misuse of antibiotics, over the last half-century has culminated in the present critical “era of resistance”. The treatment of bacterial infections is challenging because of a decline in the current arsenal of useful antibiotics and the slow rate of new drug development. The discovery of a new gene (mcr-1) in 2015, which enables bacteria to be highly resistant to polymyxins (such as colistin), the last line of antibiotic defence left, heralds a new level of concern as this gene is susceptible to horizontal gene transfer, with alarming potential to be spread between …

Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (Libs) For Food Analysis: A Review, Maria Markiewicz-Keszycka, Xavier Cama-Moncunill, Maria Piedad Casado-Gavalda, Yash Dixit, Raquel Cama-Moncunill, Patrick J. Cullen, Carl Sullivan

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Background Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is an atomic emission spectroscopic technique which uses a focused pulsed laser beam to generate plasma from the material. The plasma contains atoms, ions and free electrons which emit electromagnetic radiation as the plasma cools down. The emitted light is resolved by a spectrometer to form a spectrum. Recently, LIBS has become an emerging analytical technique for characterisation and identification of materials; its multi-elemental analysis, fast response, remote sensing, little to no sample preparation, low running cost and ease of use make LIBS a promising technique for the food sector.

Scope and approach The present …

Studying The Drug Delivery Kinetics Of A Nanoporous Matrix Using A Mip-Based Thermal Sensing Platform, Christopher J. Pawley, Ariane Perez-Gavilan, Kaelin S. Foley, Sarah Lentink

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The implementation of Molecularly Imprinted Polymers (MIPs) into sensing systems has been demonstrated abundantly over the past few decades. In this article, a novel application for an MIP-based thermal sensing platform is introduced by using the sensor to characterize the drug release kinetics of a nanoporous silver-organic framework. This Ag nanoporous matrix was loaded with acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin) which was used as a model drug compound in this study. The drug elution properties were studied by placing the nanoporous matrix in phosphate buffered saline solution for two days and measuring the drug concentration at regular time intervals. To this extent, …

Precision Control Of Flow Rate In Microfluidic Channels Using Photoresponsive Soft Polymer Actuators, Colm Delaney, Peter Mccluskey, Simon Coleman, Jeffrey Whyte, Nigel Kent, Dermot Diamond

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A novel approach that allows control of flow in microfluidic channels with unsurpassed performance using light is described. Valve structures have been created using photoresponsive hydrogels based on spiropyran-functionalised pNIPAAm hydrogels photopolymerised around pillar structures within the channels. Valve actuation is controlled from outside the fluidic system using externally located LEDs. Highly precise and accurate flow rates can be selected by passing real-time flow rate measurements into a PID algorithm. The optimised algorithm also minimises overshoot of the selected flow rate, eliminates flow rate drift, and improves the system response time. In addition to the dramatic improvements in flow rate …

Taxation, Debt And Relative Prices In The Long Run: The Irish Experience., Vahagn Galstyan, Adnan Velic

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This paper investigates the effects of public debt and distortionary labour taxation on the long-run behaviour of Irish relative non-traded goods prices. We highlight that higher public debt, acting through higher taxes, has an equivocal impact on the relative supply of non-traded goods and, correspondingly, relative prices. Our empirical analysis for Ireland suggests that taxes and public debt play significant roles in the long run, comoving negatively with the relative price of non-tradables. Accordingly, shifts in public debt and taxation bear implications for the country’s international price competitiveness.

The Future Of Fast Food Governance, Andrew Elmore

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No abstract provided.

Europe's Moral Margin: Parental Aspirations And The European Court Of Human Rights, Clare Ryan

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The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) balances along two axes: individual right vs. government interest and national vs. supranational judgment. The Court calibrates the level of deference it affords States through the margin of appreciation, a doctrine designed to vary how strictly the supranational court will scrutinize national decisions. This Article challenges the way in which the Court deploys margin of appreciation in order to defer to "sensitive moral and ethical" decisions taken by domestic institutions. I call this deference the "moral margin." Although the European Convention on Human Rights explicitly authorizes the Court to take "protection of morals" …

Making The Minimum Wage Work: An Examination Of The Economic Impact Of The Minimum Wage, Steve P. Calandrillo, Taylor Halperin

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With the passage of the Fair Labor Standards Act in 1938, Congress mandated a federal “living wage” in order to “maintain the minimum standard of living necessary for the health, efficiency, and general well-being of workers.” Advocates have long insisted that increases in the minimum wage result in a net gain to employees’ standard of living. Critics have countered that those gains come at the expense of higher prices and shrinking overall employment numbers, leaving a new class of potential workers out in the cold.

This Article synthesizes the empirical economic impact data from minimum wage increases over the past …

Cosmopolitan Democracy And The Detention Of Immigrant Families, Rebecca Sharpless

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No abstract provided.

Trading Spaces: The Changing Role Of The Executive In U.S. Trade Lawmaking, Kathleen Claussen

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Since the earliest days of the republic, the U.S. executive has wielded a significant but constitutionally bounded influence on the direction of U.S. trade law. In the twenty-first century, the growth of free trade agreements has led to an institutionalization of trade norms that permits the executive many more spaces for engagement with trading partners. In addition, other types of quotidian lawmaking extend the power of the executive in both public and hidden spaces beyond congressional delegation, even as that power remains substantially bounded by congressional control. This Article analyzes the dynamics between the branches that will direct future U.S. …

Label-Free, High Content Screening Using Raman Microspectroscopy: The Toxicological Response Of Different Cell Lines To Amine-Modified Polystyrene Nanoparticles, Esen Efeoglu, Alan Casey, Hugh Byrne, Marcus A. Maher

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Nanotoxicology has become an established area of science due to growing concerns over the production and potential use of nanomaterials in a wide-range of areas from pharmaceutics to nanomedicine. Although different cytotoxicity assays have been developed and are widely used to determine the toxicity of nanomaterials, the production of multi-parametric information in a rapid and non-invasive way is still challenging, when the amount and diversity of physicochemical properties of nanomaterials are considered. High content screening can provide such analysis, but is often prohibitive in terms of capital and recurrent costs in academic environments. As a label-free technique, the applicability of …

Thermostability Of The Coating, Antigen And Immunostimulator In An Adjuvanted Oral Capsule Vaccine Formulation, Stephanie Longet, Vincenzo Aversa, Daire O'Donnell, Joshua Tobias, Monica Rosa, Jan Holmgren, Ivan Coulter, Ed Lavelle

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Oral vaccines present an attractive alternative to injectable vaccines for enteric diseases due to ease of delivery and the induction of intestinal immunity at the site of infection. However, susceptibility to gastrointestinal proteolysis, limited transepithelial uptake and a lack of clinically acceptable adjuvants present significant challenges. A further challenge to mass vaccination in developing countries is the very expensive requirement to maintain the cold chain. We recently described the effectiveness of a Single Multiple Pill® (SmPill®) adjuvanted capsule approach to enhance the effectiveness of a candidate enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) oral vaccine. Here it was demonstrated that this delivery system …

Graphene Toxicity As A Double-Edged Sword Of Risks And Exploitable Opportunities: A Critical Analysis Of The Most Recent Trends And Developments, Yuri Volkov, Jennifer Mcintyre, Adriele Prina-Mello

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Increased production volumes and a broadening application spectrum of graphene have raised concerns about its potential adverse effects on human health. Numerous reports demonstrate that graphene irrespective of its particular form exerts its effects on a widest range of living organisms, including prokaryotic bacteria and viruses, plants, micro-and macro-invertebrates, mammalian and human cells and whole animals in vivo. However, the available experimental data is frequently a matter of significant divergence and even controversy. Therefore, we provide here a critical analysis of the most recent (2015-2016) reports accumulated in the graphene-related materials biocompatibility and toxicology field in order to elucidate the …

Sital Kalantry: Women's Human Rights And Migration: Sex-Selective Abortion Laws In The United States And India, Jocelyn Getgen Kestenbaum

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No abstract provided.

How Privacy Distorted Standing Law, Felix T. Wu

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No abstract provided.

The Constitution Of Mothers: Gender Equality And Social Reproduction In The United States And The World, Julie C. Suk

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The article explores the resurgence of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) in the United States, highlighting its potential to address ongoing gender inequalities and the role of social reproduction in modern society. It argues that the ERA, if ratified, could move beyond symbolic significance by integrating lessons from global constitutionalism, particularly the synthesis of gender equality and motherhood protections seen in European constitutions.

Pilot Investigation Into The Use Of An Anthropomorphic Breast Sonography Phantom As A Training And Assessment Tool, Jacinta Browne, Louise Cannon, Ronan Mcdermott, Max Ryan, Andrew Fagan

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A device for the training and quantitative assessment of the competency of trainee radiologists in the technically challenging area of breast sonography was developed and evaluated. Currently, suitable commercially available devices are lacking, and there is a growing realization that the reliance on direct exposure to patients for learning may not represent best practice from either the trainees' or patients' perspective. Three devices (PI, PII and PIII) were designed to produce very realistic sonographic images of breast morphology with a range of embedded pathologies. The pilot evaluation used a case study research design to evaluate the role of the anthropomorphic …

Theoretical Modelling And Design Of Photonic Structures In Zeolite Nanocomposites For Gas Sensing: Part I - Surface Relief Gratings, Dervil Cody, Izabela Naydenova

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The suitability of holographic structures fabricated in zeolite nanoparticle-polymer composite materials for gas sensing applications has been investigated. Theoretical modelling of the sensor response (i.e. change in hologram readout due to a change in refractive index modulation or thickness as a result of gas adsorption) of different sensor designs was carried out using Raman-Nath theory and Kogelnik’s Couple Wave Theory. The influence of a range of parameters on the sensor response of holographically-recorded surface and volume photonic grating structures has been studied, namely phase difference between the diffracted and probe beam introduced by the grating, grating geometry, thickness, spatial frequency, …

Surface Holograms For Sensing Application, M. Zawadzka, Izabela Naydenova

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Abstract. Surface gratings with periodicity of 2 μm and amplitude in the range of 175 and 240 nm were fabricated in a plasticized polyvinylchloride doped with a metalloporphyrin (ZnTPP), via a single laser pulse holographic ablation process. The effect of the laser pulse energy on the profiles of the fabricated surface structure was investigated. The sensing capabilities of the fabricated diffractive structures towards amines (triethylamine, diethylamine) and pyridine vapours were then explored; the holographic structures were exposed to the analyte vapours and changes in the intensity of the diffracted light were monitored in real time at 473 nm. It was …

Raman Spectral Signatures Of Cervical Exfoliated Cells From Liquid-Based Cytology Samples, Fiona Lyng, Padraig Kearney,, Damien Traynor, Franck Bonnier, John J. O’Leary, Cara M. Martin

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It is widely accepted that cervical screening has significantly reduced the incidence of cervical cancer worldwide. The primary screening test for cervical cancer is the Papanicolaou (Pap) test, which has extremely variable specificity and sensitivity. There is an unmet clinical need for methods to aid clinicians in the early detection of cervical precancer. Raman spectroscopy is a label-free objective method that can provide a biochemical fingerprint of a given sample. Compared with studies on infrared spectroscopy, relatively few Raman spectroscopy studies have been carried out to date on cervical cytology. The aim of this study was to define the Raman …

Unbundling Freedom In The Sharing Economy, Deepa Das Acevedo

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Courts and scholars point to the sharing economy as the most recent proof that our labor amp employment infrastructure is obsolete because it rests on a narrow and outmoded idea"”namely that only workers subjected to direct personalized control by their employers need workrelated protections and benefits Since they diagnose the problem as being our system's emphasis on control these critics have long called for reducing or eliminating the primacy of the "control test" in classifying workers as either protected employees or unprotected independent contractors Despite these persistent criticisms however the concept of control has been remarkably sticky in scholarly and …

Stress Hardiness And Lawyers, Pamela Bucy Pierson, Ashley Hamilton, Michael Pepper, Megan Root

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This article empirically analyzes original data to look at stress and stress hardiness in the legal profession A number of studies address stress in the legal profession and its impact on the mental health of lawyers Our study is the first to examine stress hardiness in the legal profession Drawing on quantitative data gathered from 20132016 in surveys of 530 law students and lawyers and qualitative data from 106 indepth interviews with lawyers and building on the work of research psychologists Salvatore Maddi and Suzanne Kobasa we look at whether some lawyers more stress hardy than others and if so …

Lawyer Resilience Alabama Lawyer Assistance Program, Pamela Bucy Pierson

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No abstract provided.

Not Young Guns Anymore: Dementia And The Second Amendment, Fredrick E. Vars

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No abstract provided.

Sovereignty And Social Change In The Wake Of India's Recent Sodomy Cases, Deepa Das Acevedo

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American constitutional law scholars have long questioned whether courts can really drive social reform and this position remains largely unchallenged even in the wake of recent landmark decisions affecting the LGBT community In contrast court watchers in India "” spurred by developments in a special type of legal action developed in the late 1970s known as "public interest litigation" or "PIL" "” have only recently begun questioning the judiciary's ability to promote progressive social change Indian scholarship on this point has veered between despair that PIL cases no longer reliably produce good outcomes for India's most disadvantaged and optimism that …

Bankrupt Marketplace: First Amendment Theory And The 2016 Presidential Election, Leonard M. Niehoff

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In this article I advance two arguments. The first is that 2016 was a particularly important year for freedom of speech and the press, although not for conventional reasons. The second is that hte events of 2016 revealed that one of the essential components of our democracy - the central role that free expression plays in the democratic process - is in a state of serious dysfunction, if not crisis.

Update Your Bookmarks! Great Sites For Effective Research, Nancy E. Vettorello

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There are more than one billion websites available online. Many are useful tools for attorneys, so it makes sense to review and refresh your favorite bookmarks regularly. While none of the many free sites offer the sophisticated search abilities of fee-based research services, a few minutes spent exploring free sites can help researchers significantly narrow their searches once they turn to a fee-based system. Remember to always take advantage of the advancesearch option when available on a free site. Free sites are offering increasingly sophisticated search options, such as Boolean and proximity searches, which were previously exclusive to paid services.

Contemporary Practice Of The United States Relating To International Law, January 2017, Daugirdas Kristina, Julian Davis Mortenson

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In this section: • Congress Overrides Obama’s Veto to Pass Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act • U.S. Federal Court of Appeals Upholds United Nations’ Immunity in Case Related to Cholera in Haiti • U.S.-Russian Agreements on Syria Break Down as the Syrian Conflict Continues • Russia Suspends Bilateral Agreement with United States on Disposal of Weapons-Grade Plutonium • The United States Makes Payment to Family of Italian Killed in CIA Air Strike • United States Ratifies Hague Convention on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance

Labor And Employment Arbitration Today: Mid-Life Crisis Or New Golden Age?, Theodore J. St. Antonie

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The major developments in employer-employee arbitration currently do not involve labor arbitration, that is, arbitration between employers and unions. The focus is on employment arbitration, arbitration between employers and individual employees. Beginning around 1980, nearly all the states judicially modified the standard American doctrine of employment-at-will whereby, absent a statutory or contractual prohibition, an employer could fire an employee "for good cause, for no cause, or even for cause morally wrong." Under the new regime, grounded in expansive contract and public policy theories, wrongfully discharged employees often reaped bonanzas in court suits, with California jury awards averaging around $425,000." Many …