Digital Commons Network^™

A Geo-Statistical Investigation Of Agricultural And Infrastructural Risk Factors Associated With Primary Verotoxigenic E. Coli (Vtec) Infection In The Republic Of Ireland, 2008–2013, Paul Hynds, Jean O'Dwyer, Una B. Fallon, Coilín Oscar Óhaiseadha

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Ireland reports the highest incidence of verotoxigenic Escherichia coli (VTEC) infection in Europe. This study investigated potential risk factors for confirmed sporadic and outbreak primary VTEC infections during 2008-2013. Overall, 989 VTEC infections including 521 serogroup O157 and 233 serogroup O26 were geo-referenced to 931 of 18488 census enumeration areas. The geographical distribution of human population, livestock, unregulated groundwater sources, domestic wastewater treatment systems (DWWTS) and a deprivation index were examined relative to notification of VTEC events in 524 of 6242 rural areas. Multivariate modelling identified three spatially derived variables associated with VTEC notification: private well usage (odds ratio (OR) …

An Insight Into The Superior Performance Of A Heterogeneous Gold Nanocatalyst Supported By A Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes Compared To Titanium Dioxide And Amorphous Carbon For The Green Aerobic Oxidation Of Aromatic Alcohols, Anne Shanahan, Mary Mcnamara, Hugh Byrne, James A. Sullivan

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Gold nanocomposites based on three supports, single wall carbon nanotubes, carbon black and TiO2, were prepared using an in-situ reduction technique and characterized. They were tested for their suitability as heterogeneous catalysts in the green aerobic oxidation of 1-phenylethanol, 2-phenylethanol and benzylalcohol of industrial importance. For all reactions, the use of single wall carbon nanotubes as supports resulted in superior reaction efficiency and specificity for aldehyde to that of TiO2 and carbon black. The gold nanocatalysts can be reused over several reaction cycles with a minimal degeneration in catalytic activity. The activity of the gold nanoparticle catalyst was related to …

Effects Of Cold Plasma On Surface, Thermal And Antimicrobial Release Properties Of Chitosan Film, Shashi Kishor Pankaj, Carmen Bueno-Ferrer, N.N. Misra, Luke O'Neill, Paula Bourke, P.J Cullen

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This work aims to analyze the effects of cold atmospheric air plasma treatment of antimicrobial chitosan film with different levels of thymol. Optical characterization of the dielectric barrier discharge showed the generation of reactive nitrogen and oxygen species by the system. A significant increase in the surface roughness was observed after cold plasma treatment of the films. No significant difference was observed in the thermal profile of the plasma-treated films. A significant increase in the thymol diffusion coefficient was observed after the plasma treatment for all the active films.

The Cost Of Inexperience, Mirit Eyal-Cohen

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Free market entry is vital in preventing concentration of market power and eliminating large deadweight losses Yet in recent years studies show that newcomers are less successful than existing firms that have diversifies their products in the market What might explain this phenomenonThis Article unveils a regulatory catch 22 It reveals that although a regulation may be efficient in correcting a certain market failure its distributional effects may create another It exposes the degree to which "economies of experience" in regulation create significant disadvantages to newcomers and provide substantial advantages to oldtimers Being wellversed in their marketplace oldtimers possess knowledge …

There's No Place Like Home: Reshaping Community Interventions And Policies To Eliminate Environmental Hazards And Improve Population Health For Low-Income And Minority Communities, Emily A. Benfer, Allyson E. Gold

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Substandard housing and environmental conditions threaten the health and wellbeing of individuals residing throughout the United States Empirical evidence on the relationship between housing and health has increased exponentially However despite the growth in research residents continue to be exposed to environmental health hazards Minorities and people in poverty are exposed to environmental health hazards at a disproportionately high rate Hazards such as lead mold pest infestation radon and carbon monoxide among others threaten individual safety and health and limit one's ability to access opportunity in society Moreover the effects of exposure can be farreaching Common approaches to healthy communities …

Ethanol Extract Of Blighia Sapida Stem Bark Show Remarkable Prophylactic Activity In Experimental Plasmodium Berghei-Infected Mice., Olayinka O. Otegbade, Johnson A. Ojo, Dolapo I. Adefokun, Oyindamola O. Abiodun, Bolaji N. Thomas, Olusola Ojurongbe

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This work explores the antiplasmodial potential of ethanol extract of Blighia sapida (Lin. Sapindaceae) in chloroquine (CQ)- resistant Plasmodium berghei (ANKA strain)–infected mice. Chloroquine-resistant (ANKA) strain of P berghei was inoculated intraperitoneally into Swiss albino mice. Mice were treated orally for 4 consecutive days, before and after inoculation (prophylactic, suppressive, and curative models) with graded doses of the plant extracts with Artemether-Lumefantrine (Coartem) as control. Prophylactically, the extract showed a remarkable activity in the chemosuppression of P berghei parasites (P

To Be Or Not To Be T4: Evidence Of A Complex Evolutionary Pathway Of Head Structure And Assembly In Giant Salmonella Virus Spn3us, Bazla Ali, Maxim Desmond, Sara Mallory, Andrea Benitez, Larry J. Buckley, Susan T. Weintraub, Michael V. Osier, Lindsay W. Black, Julie A. Thomas

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Giant Salmonella phage SPN3US has a 240-kb dsDNA genome and a large complex virion composed of many proteins for which the functions of most are undefined. We recently determined that SPN3US shares a core set of genes with related giant phages and sequenced and characterized 18 amber mutants to facilitate its use as a genetic model system. Notably, SPN3US and related giant phages contain a bolus of ejection proteins within their heads, including a multi-subunit virion RNA polymerase (vRNAP), that enter the host cell with the DNA during infection. In this study, we characterized the SPN3US virion using mass spectrometry …

Career Development And Personal Success Profile Of Students - Followers And Students - Potential Future Leaders: The Case Of Rit Croatia, Jasminka Samardzija, Joseph Kevin Walker, Vanda Bazdan

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This study examines the differences among students in terms of self-reported leadership characteristics. It was conducted among all three programs and four generations of undergraduates at RIT Croatia. The goal of this study is to determine the differences among students who report being more and less leadership prone (Potential Future Leaders and Followers, respectively) with regard to demographic characteristics, reported self reliance socialization pattern, college level and program choice, career focus attainment and development, and reported attitudes regarding the importance of specific personality traits in leadership, the importance of specific career development factors and success indicators. Research showed that generation …

Maternal Nutrient Intakes From Food And Drinks Consumed In Early Pregnancy In Ireland, Laura Mullaney, Shona Cawley, Rachel Kennedy, Amy C. O'Higgins, Daniel Mccartney, Michael J. Turner

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Background: The aim of this observational study was to measure food, macronutrient and micronutrient intakes of women presenting for antenatal care and assess compliance with current nutritional recommendations.

Vitamin D Receptor Variants And Uncontrolled Asthma, Conor Kerley, Katrina Hutchinson, John Faul, Peter Greally, David Coghlan, Basil Elnazir, Michael Louw, Yury Rochev

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BACKGROUND: Asthma is a common childhood respiratory disease, affecting around 20% of Irish children. In other populations, vitamin D receptor (VDR) polymorphisms have been associated with asthma risk. We aimed to investigate the association between 2 VDR polymorphisms and uncontrolled paediatric asthma. METHODS: 44 asthmatic children and 57 healthy volunteers were studied. The VDR TaqI gene variant in exon 9 (T/C) (rs731236) and ApaI (rs7975232) in intron 8 (C/T) were determined, using TaqMan®Assays. The lung function, serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) levels and other biomarkers of allergy, immunity, airway and systemic inflammation were assessed. RESULTS: The distribution of T and C …

Outcomes Of Exclusive Enteral Nutrition In Paediatric Crohn's Disease, L. Lafferty, M. Tuohy, A. Carey, Sheila Sugrue, M. Hurley, Seamus Hussey

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Background/objectives: Exclusive enteral nutrition (EEN) is a safe and effective treatment modality for inducing remission in paediatric Crohn's disease (CD). The primary aim of this study was to compare the outcomes of EEN to corticosteroid (CS) therapy in newly diagnosed, treatment-naïve patients with CD. A secondary aim was to describe the outcomes of EEN in a national cohort of paediatric CD patients over a 10-year period.

Subjects/methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted at the Irish national referral centre for paediatric CD. A case-matched analysis was conducted on two cohorts matched for age, gender, disease location, disease behaviour and disease …

Sinapinic And Protocatechuic Acids Found In Rapeseed: Isolation, Characterisation And Potential Benefits For Human Health As Functional Food Ingredients, Leah Quinn, Steven G. Gray, Steve Meaney, Steven Fiinn, Owen Kenny, Maria Hayes

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Rapeseed is a globally valuable crop, and its production has steadily grown over the past 20 yr. Rapeseed is cultivated in China, India, Canada and Europe; however, in terms of rapeseed production, Europe is the largest producer (Carre, 2014). In the year 2013/2014, the European Union (EU) produced 9.93 million t of rapeseed oil, while China produced 6.58 million t (List, 2015). A by-product of the rapeseed oil industry, rapeseed meal contains bioactive constituents, such as the phenolics sinapinic acid (SA) and protocatechuic acid (PCA), which have potential uses as functional food ingredients and for use in cosmetic and pharmaceutical …

Cd10 − /Aldh − Cells Are The Sole Cisplatin-Resistant Component Of A Novel Ovarian Cancer Stem Cell Hierarchy, Brendan Ffrench, Claudia Gasch, Karsten Hokamp, Cathy Spillane, Gordon Blackshields, Thamir Mahmoud Mahgoub, Mark Bates, Louise Kehoe, Aoibhinn Mooney, Ronan Doyle, Brendan Doyle, Dearbhaile O ’ Donnell, Noreen Gleeson, Bryan T Hennessy, Britta Stordal, Ciaran O ’ Riain, Helen Lambkin

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No abstract provided.

Advances In Control Of Food Mixing Operations, Patrick J. Cullen, Serafim Bakalis, Carl Sullivan

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Mixing is a ubiquitous unit operation within the food industry and employed not only to combine multiple ingredients, but also to control reactions and modify the structure of foods. Failure of the mixing process may result in poor quality, organoleptic or functional attributes of foods along with product safety concerns. The industry is increasingly adopting automation and advanced control strategies such as Process Analytical Technology. Sensors can provide both insights into the complex mechanisms of mixing along with effective control. Here we discuss some recent advances in the control of food mixing operations.

Cancer Incidence In Ireland—The Possible Role Of Diet, Nutrition And Lifestyle, Daniel Mccartney, Declan Byrne, Marie Cantwell, Michael Turner

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Aim This observational ecological study aims to compare Ireland’s age-specific cancer incidence rates (ASRs) with equivalent European and global data and to highlight possible dietary, nutritional and lifestyle contributors to cancer in Ireland.

Subjects and methods Using the International Agency for Research on Cancer’s (IARC) GLOBOCAN database, Irish ASRs for all-site cancer and for "lifestyle-related" cancers such as those of the colo-rectum, oesophagus, breast, lung and prostate were compared with European and global incidence data. Irish dietary and nutrient intake data were reviewed and evaluated in the context of these cancer incidence data and in relation to the established dietary, …

Pcr-Ribotype Distribution Of Clostridium Difficile In Irish Pigs, Katharina Stein, Sarah Egan, Helen Lynch, Celine Harmanus, Lorraine Kyne, Celine Herra, Sinead Mcdermott, Ed Kuijper, Fidelma Fitzpatrick, Susan Fitzgerald, Lynda Fenelon, Denise Drudy

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Clostridium difficile is an important enteric pathogen in humans causing infections in the healthcare environment and the community. Carriage of C. difficile and C. difficile-related enterocolitis has been reported in piglets worldwide. The aim of this study was to investigate the rates of C. difficile isolation from pigs in Ireland. Faecal samples from piglet litters and sows were collected from six farms in 2015. The sows were non-diarrhoeal at the time of sampling. The diarrhoeal status of the piglets was unknown. C. difficile was isolated from 34/44 (77%) of piglet litter samples and from 33/156 (21%) of sow samples. The …

Vitamin D Improves Selected Metabolic Parameters But Not Neuropsychological Or Quality Of Life Indices In Osa: A Pilot Study, Conor Kerley, Katrina Hutchinson, Jessica Branham, Aisling Mcgowan, John Faul, Liam Cormican

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Study Objectives: Our group and others have reported a high rate of vitamin D deficiency in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), where vitamin D levels (25(OH) D) correlate negatively with OSA severity and some of its associated metabolic alterations. Data regarding vitamin D supplementation in OSA are lacking. We wanted to evaluate the effect of vitamin D3 supplementation on OSA symptoms and metabolic parameters. Methods: We conducted a pilot, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of daily supplementation with 4,000 IU vitamin D3 (D3) or placebo (PL). We studied 19 Caucasian adults (14 male, mean age 55 y, mean body mass index [BMI] …

Broad-Scale Redistribution Of Mrna Abundance And Transcriptional Machinery In Response To Growth Rate In Salmonella Enterica Serovar Typhimurium, Andrew D. S. Cameron, Shane Dillon, Carsten Kröger, Laurens Beran, Charles Dorman

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We have investigated the connection between the four-dimensional architecture of the bacterial nucleoid and the organism's global gene expression programme. By localizing the transcription machinery and the transcriptional outputs across the genome of the model bacterium Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium at different stages of the growth cycle, a surprising disconnection between gene dosage and transcriptional output was revealed. During exponential growth, gene output occurred chiefly in the Ori (origin), Ter (terminus) and NSL (non-structured left) domains, whereas the Left macrodomain remained transcriptionally quiescent at all stages of growth. The apparently high transcriptional output in Ter was correlated with an enhanced …

Privacy, Vulnerability, And Affordance, Ryan Calo

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This essay begins to unpack the complex, sometimes contradictory relationship between privacy and vulnerability. I begin by exploring how the law conceives of vulnerability — essentially, as a binary status meriting special consideration where present. Recent literature recognizes vulnerability not as a status but as a state — a dynamic and manipulable condition that everyone experiences to different degrees and at different times. I then discuss various ways in which vulnerability and privacy intersect. I introduce an analytic distinction between vulnerability rendering, i.e., making a person more vulnerable, and the exploitation of vulnerability whether manufactured or native. I also describe …

Artificial Intelligence Policy: A Primer And Roadmap, Ryan Calo

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Talk of artificial intelligence is everywhere. People marvel at the capacity of machines to translate any language and master any game. Others condemn the use of secret algorithms to sentence criminal defendants or recoil at the prospect of machines gunning for blue, pink, and white-collar jobs. Some worry aloud that artificial intelligence will be humankind’s “final invention.” This essay, prepared in connection with UC Davis Law Review's 50th anniversary symposium, explains why AI is suddenly on everyone's mind and provides a roadmap to the major policy questions AI raises. The essay is designed to help policymakers, investors, technologists, scholars, and …

Is There A Right To Be Free From Corruption?, Anita Ramasastry

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Scholars and policymakers have, for some time, focused on the link between corruption and human rights. This has been to illustrate that corruption is not a victimless crime. While this has publicized the impact of corruption on individuals and on society, it has not changed the lack of political will to prosecute many instances of corruption. Thus citizens often stand by as their leaders plunder national treasuries. Rather than focusing solely on human rights, or trying to create a new “human right” to be free from corruption, this article explores the right to a legal remedy for victims of corruption …

Beyond A Zero-Sum Federal Trust Responsibility: Lessons From Federal Indian Energy Policy, Monte Mills

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The federal government’s trust relationship with federally recognized Indian tribes is a product of the last two centuries of Federal Indian Law and federal-tribal relations. For approximately the last 50 years, the federal government has sought to promote tribal self-determination as a means to carry out its trust responsibilities to Indian tribes; but the shadows of prior federal policies, based largely on notions of tribal incompetence and federal paternalism, remain. Perhaps no other policy arena better demonstrates the history, evolution, and promise for reform of the federal trust relationship than Federal Indian energy policy, or the range of federal statutes …

Postpartum Taxation And The Squeezed Out Mom, Shannon Weeks Mccormack

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Faced with too-short (or nonexistent) maternity leaves, inflexible work schedules, and the soaring costs of childcare in the United States, many new mothers temporarily leave the workforce to care for their young children. Although media attention has focused on the “opt-out” mom, many more mothers are squeezed out of the external workplace. But mothers that try to return to work may discover that it is difficult to do so, as employers have been shown to be less likely to hire mothers than others. A mother that does reenter may find that even short periods out of work cost (sometimes far) …

Zombie Patents And Zombie Companies With Patents, Xuan-Thao Nguyen

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While a zombie is the undead and has no expiration, patents do. A patent comes into existence the moment the government, through the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), examines the invention application and issues a grant of patent. From that birth, a patent will have a lifetime of only twenty years from the date of filing the application. Patents expire and have no life after the twenty-year period.

Some patents die when the patentees abandon them by not paying maintenance fees. Dead patents must remain dead and become part of the public domain. Unfortunately, this Essay observes that …

Backdating Marriage, Peter Nicolas

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Many same-sex couples have been in committed relationships for years, even decades. Yet until 2004 no same-sex couples in the United States had the right to marry in any state and until the U.S. Supreme Court's 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges the right was unavailable to same-sex couples nationwide. Due to this longstanding denial of the right to marry, most same-sex relationships appear artificially short when measured solely by reference to the couple's civil marriage date.

This circumstance has important legal consequences for many same-sex couples, as a number of rights associated with marriage are tied not merely to …

Astroturf Activism, Melissa J. Durkee

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Corporate influence in government is more than a national issue; it is an international phenomenon. For years, businesses have been infiltrating international legal processes. They secretly lobby lawmakers through front groups: “astroturf” imitations of grassroots organizations. But because this business lobbying is covert, it has been underappreciated in both the literature and the law.

This Article unearths the “astroturf activism” phenomenon. It offers an original descriptive account that classifies modes of business access to international officials and identifies harms, then develops a critical analysis of the laws that regulate this access. I show that the perplexing set of access rules …

The Advent Of Lawyers In Japanese Government, Daniel H. Foote

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Until 2003, Japanese lawyers were prohibited by law from entering full-time employment in governmental bodies. That year, in line with recommendations by the Justice System Reform Council, the Lawyers Act was amended to permit lawyers to undertake such employment. Incorporating information and insights from interviews with former government lawyers and other concerned parties, this article examines the rise in the hiring of government lawyers and its impact. The article considers factors that have contributed to the increase, examines the roles played by these lawyers, considers prospects for the future, and discusses implications for government, the legal profession, clients, and legal …

How Adverse Outcome Pathways Can Aid The Development And Use Of Computational Prediction Models For Regulatory Toxicology, Clemens Wittwehr, Hristo Aladjov, Gerald Ankley, Hugh Byrne, Joop Deknecht

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Efforts are underway to transform regulatory toxicology and chemical safety assessment from a largely empirical science based on direct observation of apical toxicity outcomes in whole organism toxicity tests to a predictive one in which outcomes and risk are inferred from accumulated mechanistic understanding. The adverse outcome pathway (AOP) framework provides a systematic approach for organizing knowledge that may support such inference. Likewise, computational models of biological systems at various scales provide another means and platform to integrate current biological understanding to facilitate inference and extrapolation. We argue that the systematic organization of knowledge into AOP frameworks can inform and …

Synthesis And Characterization Of A Multifunctional Gold-Doxorubicin Nanoparticle System For Ph Triggered Intracellular Anti-Cancer Drug Release, Ghanesh Khutale, Alan Casey

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A nanoparticle drug carrier system has been developed to alter the cellular uptake and chemotherapeutic performance of an available chemotherapeutic drug. The system comprises of a multifunctional gold nanoparticle based drug delivery system (Au-PEG-PAMAM-DOX) as a novel platform for intracellular delivery of doxorubicin (DOX). Spherical gold nanoparticles were synthesized by a gold chloride reduction, stabilized with thiolated polyethylene glycol (PEG) and then covalently coupled with a polyamidoamine (PAMAM) G4 dendrimer. Further, conjugation of an anti-cancer drug doxorubicin to the dendrimer via amide bond resulted in Au-PEG-PAMAM-DOX drug delivery system. Acellular drug release studies proved that DOX released from Au-PEG-PAMAM-DOX at …

In Vitro Comparative Cytotoxicity Study Of Aminated Polystyrene, Zinc Oxide And Silver Nanoparticles On A Cervical Cancer Cell Line, Akash Sharma, Brian Gorey, Alan Casey

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Nanoparticles use in nano-biotechnology applications have increased significantly with Aminated polystyrene amine (AmPs NP), Zinc oxide (ZnO NP), and Silver (Ag NP) nanoparticles utilized in wide variety of consumer products. This has presented a number of concerns due to their increased exposure risks and associated toxicity on living systems. Changes in the structural and physicochemical properties of nanoparticles can lead to changes in biological activities. This study investigates, compares, and contrasts the potential toxicity of AmPs, ZnO and Ag NPs on an in vitro model (HeLa cells) and assesses the associated mechanism for their corresponding cytotoxicity relative to the surface …