Digital Commons Network^™

Assessment Of Two Behavioural Models (Hbm And Ranas) For Predicting Health Behaviours In Response To Environmental Threats: Surface Water Flooding As A Source Of Groundwater Contamination And Subsequent Waterborne Infection In The Republic Of Ireland, L. Andrade, K. O'Malley, Paul Hynds, E. O'Neill, J. O'Dwyer

Articles

Extreme weather events (EWEs) are increasing in frequency, posing a greater risk of adverse human health effects. As such, developing sociological and psychological based interventions is paramount to empowering individuals and communities to actively protect their own health. Accordingly, this study compared the efficacy of two established social-cognitive models, namely the Health Beliefs Model (HBM) and Risks-Attitudes-Norms-Abilities-Self-regulation (RANAS) framework, in predicting health behaviours following EWEs. Surface water flooding was used as the exemplar EWE in the current study, due to the increasing incidence of these events in the Republic of Ireland over the past decade. Levels of prior experience with …

Guest Editorial Special Issue On Using Enquiry-And-Design-Based Learning To Spur Epistemological And Identity Development Of Engineering Students, Shannon Chance, Bill Williams, Tom Goldfinch, Robin S. Adams, Lorraine N. Fleming

Articles

This Special Issue of the IEEE Transactions on Education focuses on using enquiry-based design projects to spur engineering students’ development, so as to increase understanding and application of the relevant theories, foster higher rates of student development and achieve this in healthy and productive ways.

A Twelve-Wavelength Thulium-Doped Fibre Laser Based On A Microfibre Coil Resonator Incorporating Black Phosphorus, Shi Li, Yu Yin, Elfed Lewis, Gerald Farrell, Pengfei Wang

Articles

A novel multi-wavelength continuous Thulium-doped fibre laser incorporating a microfibre coil resonator based on black phosphorus (MCR-BP) material has been successfully fabricated and demonstrated. A twelve-wavelength spectrum with 0.54 nm channel spacing has been achieved by simply adjusting the pump source power. A single peak extinction ratio of more than 40 dB was observed. The superior performance of the MCR-BP described in this article compared to conventional MCR based fibre lasers can be attributed the inclusion of the Black Phosphorous Material. The enhanced lasing is primarily due to the twin properties of the MCR-BP device combining a comb-like filter effect …

A Deep Recurrent Q Network Towards Self-Adapting Distributed Microservice Architecture, Basel Magableh, Muder Almiani

Articles

One desired aspect of microservice architecture is the ability to self-adapt its own architecture and behavior in response to changes in the operational environment. To achieve the desired high levels of self-adaptability, this research implements distributed microservice architecture model running a swarm cluster, as informed by the Monitor, Analyze, Plan, and Execute over a shared Knowledge (MAPE-K) model. The proposed architecture employs multiadaptation agents supported by a centralized controller, which can observe the environment and execute a suitable adaptation action. The adaptation planning is managed by a deep recurrent Q-learning network (DRQN). It is argued that such integration between DRQN …

Some Transitivity-Like Concepts In Abelian Groups, Gabor Braun, Brendan Goldsmith, Ketao Gong, Lutz Strungmann

Articles

The classical notions of transitivity and full transitivity in Abelian p-groups have natural extensions to concepts called Krylov and weak transitivity. The interconnections between these four types of transitivity are determined for Abelian p-groups; there is a marked difference in the relationships when the prime p is equal to 2. In the final section the relationship between full and Krylov transitivity is examined in the case of mixed Abelian groups which are p-local in the sense that multiplication by an integer relatively prime to p is an automorphism.

Integrable Cosmological Model With Van Der Waals Gas And Matter Creation, Rossen Ivanov, Emil Prodanov

Articles

A cosmological model with van der Waals gas and dust has been studied in the context of a three-component autonomous non-linear dynamical system involving the time evolution of the particle number density, the Hubble parameter and the temperature. Due to the presence of a symmetry of the model, the temperature evolution law is determined (in terms of the particle number density) and with this the dynamical system reduces to a two-component one which is fully integrable. The globally conserved Hamiltonian is identified and, in addition to it, some special (second) integrals, defined and conserved on a lower-dimensional manifold, are found. …

When The Intrinsic Algebraic Entropy Is Not Really Intrinsic, Brendan Goldsmith, Luigi Salce

Articles

The intrinsic algebraic entropy ent(ɸ) of an endomorphism ɸ of an Abelian group G can be computed using fully inert subgroups of ɸ-invariant sections of G, instead of the whole family of ɸ-inert subgroups. For a class of groups containing the groups of finite rank, aswell as those groupswhich are trajectories of finitely generated subgroups, it is proved that only fully inert subgroups of the group itself are needed to comput ent(ɸ). Examples show how the situation may be quite different outside of this class.

"Scientific Inference" Vs. "Legal Reasoning"? Not So Fast! ¿"Inferencia Cientifíca" Vs."Razonamiento Jurídico"? -- No Tan Rápido!, Susan Haack

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No abstract provided.

"Scientific Inference" Vs. "Legal Reasoning"? -Not So Fast!, Susan Haack

Articles

To understand why the interactions of science with the legal system can be so problematic, it's not enough to gesture vaguely towards a supposed contrast between scientific and legal "modes of thinking"; we need to look, instead, to the consequences of the different purposes of science and the law, the different constraints under which they pursue those purposes, and the different cultures of the two enterprises. From this perspective we can see why the law sometimes asks more of science than science can give, and sometimes gets less from science than science could give; and also why a simple dichotomy …

Imi – Myopia Control Reports Overview And Introduction, James S. Wolffsohn, Daniel Ian Flitcroft, Kate L. Gifford, Monica Jong, Lyndon Jones, Caroline C. W. Klaver, Nicola S. Logan, Kovin Naidoo, Serge Resnikoff, Padmaja Sankaridurg, Earl L. Smith Iii, David Troilo, Christine F. Wildsoet

Articles

With the growing prevalence of myopia, already at epidemic levels in some countries, there is an urgent need for new management approaches. However, with the increasing number of research publications on the topic of myopia control, there is also a clear necessity for agreement and guidance on key issues, including on how myopia should be defined and how interventions, validated by well-conducted clinical trials, should be appropriately and ethically applied. The International Myopia Institute (IMI) reports the critical review and synthesis of the research evidence to date, from animal models, genetics, clinical studies, and randomized controlled trials, by more than …

Myopia Outcome Study Of Atropine In Children (Mosaic): An Investigator-Led, Double-Masked, Placebo-Controlled, Randomised Clinical Trial Protocol, Saoirse Mccrann, Daniel Ian Flitcroft, Niall C. Strang, Kathryn J. Saunders, Nicola S. Logan, Samantha Szeyee Lee, David A. Mackey, John Butler, James Loughman

Articles

Background: The Myopia Outcome Study of Atropine in Children (MOSAIC) aims to explore the efficacy, safety, acceptability and mechanisms of action of 0.01% unpreserved atropine for myopia control in a European population. Methods: MOSAIC is an

A U-Net Deep Learning Framework For High Performance Vessel Segmentation In Patients With Cerebrovascular Disease, Michelle Livne, Jana Rieger, Orhun Utku Aydin, Abdel Aziz Taha, Ela Marie Akay, Tabea Kossen, Jan Sobesky, John D. Kelleher, Kristian Hildebrand, Dietmar Frey, Vince I. Madai

Articles

Brain vessel status is a promising biomarker for better prevention and treatment in cerebrovascular disease. However, classic rule-based vessel segmentation algorithms need to be hand-crafted and are insufficiently validated. A specialized deep learning method—the U-net—is a promising alternative. Using labeled data from 66 patients with cerebrovascular disease, the U-net framework was optimized and evaluated with three metrics: Dice coefficient, 95% Hausdorff distance (95HD) and average Hausdorff distance (AVD). The model performance was compared with the traditional segmentation method of graph-cuts. Training and reconstruction was performed using 2D patches. A full and a reduced architecture with less parameters were trained. We …

Capturing And Measuring Thematic Relatedness, Magdalena Kacmajor, John D. Kelleher

Articles

In this paper we explain the difference between two aspects of semantic relatedness: taxonomic and thematic relations. We notice the lack of evaluation tools for measuring thematic relatedness, identify two datasets that can be recommended as thematic benchmarks, and verify them experimentally. In further experiments, we use these datasets to perform a comprehensive analysis of the performance of an extensive sample of computational models of semantic relatedness, classified according to the sources of information they exploit. We report models that are best at each of the two dimensions of semantic relatedness and those that achieve a good balance between the …

Surface Waves Over Currents And Uneven Bottom, Alan Compelli, Rossen Ivanov, Calin I. Martin, Michail D. Todorov

Articles

The propagation of surface water waves interacting with a current and an uneven bottom is studied. Such a situation is typical for ocean waves where the winds generate currents in the top layer of the ocean. The role of the bottom topography is taken into account since it also influences the local wave and current patterns. Specific scaling of the variables is selected which leads to approximations of Boussinesq and KdV types. The arising KdV equation with variable coefficients, dependent on the bottom topography, is studied numerically when the initial condition is in the form of the one soliton solution …

Riemann-Hilbert Problem, Integrability And Reductions, Vladimir Gerdjikov, Rossen Ivanov, Aleksander Stefanov

Articles

Abstract. The present paper is dedicated to integrable models with Mikhailov reduction groups G_R ≃ D_h. Their Lax representation allows us to prove, that their solution is equivalent to solving Riemann-Hilbert problems, whose contours depend on the realization of the G_R-action on the spectral parameter. Two new examples of Nonlinear Evolution Equations (NLEE) with D_h symmetries are presented.

Does It Take Three To Dance The Tango? Organizational Design, Triadic Structures And Boundary Spanning Across Subunits, Stefano Tasselli, Alberto Caimo

Articles

In this paper, we investigate the processes of boundary spanning across subunits within organizational networks. We hypothesize that patterns of advice across organizational subunits are explained by different triadic mechanisms depending on the organizational design of the intra-organizational network. In organizational networks characterized by flat hierarchy, we found triadic cyclic closure to be positively associated to boundary spanning across subunits; but when the network reflects an organizational structure with formal hierarchical differentiation among members, then we found triadic transitive closure to be associated to boundary spanning across subunits. We test these predictions in two empirical studies consisting of two organizational …

On The Cosmological Models With Matter Creation, Emil M. Prodanov, Rossen Ivanov

Articles

The matter creation model of Prigogine--Géhéniau--Gunzig--Nardone is revisited in terms of a redefined creation pressure which does not lead to irreversible adiabatic evolution at constant specific entropy. With the resulting freedom to choose a particular gas process, a flat FRWL cosmological model is proposed based on three input characteristics: (i) a perfect fluid comprising of an ideal gas, (ii) a quasi-adiabatic polytropic process, and (iii) a particular rate of particle creation. Such model leads to the description of the late-time acceleration of the expanding Universe with a natural transition from decelerating to accelerating regime. Only the Friedmann equations and the …

On The Time-Evolution Of Resonant Triads In Rotational Capillary-Gravity Water Waves, Rossen Ivanov, Calin I. Martin

Articles

We investigate an effect of the resonant interaction in the case of one-directional propagation of capillary-gravity surface waves arising as the free surface of a rotational water flow. Specifically, we assume a constant vorticity in the body of the fluid which physically corresponds to an underlying current with a linear horizontal velocity profile. We consider the interaction of three distinct modes and we obtain the dynamic equations for a resonant triad. Setting the constant vorticity equal to zero we recover the well known integrable three-wave system.

Benjamin-Ono Model Of An Internal Wave Under A Flat Surface, Alan Compelli, Rossen Ivanov

Articles

A two-layer uid system separated by a pycnocline in the form of an internal wave is considered. The lower layer is infinitely deep, with a higher density than the upper layer which is bounded above by a at surface. The uids are incompressible and inviscid. A Hamiltonian formulation for the dynamics in the presence of a depth-varying current is presented and it is shown that an appropriate scaling leads to the integrable Benjamin-Ono equation.

(E)-6,6′-(Diazene-1,2-Di­Yl)Bis­(1,10-Phenanthrolin-5-Ol) Tri­Chloro­Methane Disolvate: A Superconjugated Ligand, Muhib Ahmed, Michael Devereux, Vickie Mckee, Malachy Mccann, A. Denise Rooney

Articles

Phenanthroline ligands are important metal-binding mol­ecules which have been extensively researched for applications in both material science and medicinal chemistry. Azo­benzene and its derivatives have received significant attention because of their ability to be reversibly switched between the E and Z forms and so could have applications in optical memory and logic devices or as mol­ecular machines. Herein we report the formation and crystal structure of a highly unusual novel diazo-diphenanthroline compound, C24H14N6O2·2CHCl3.

Beyond Bitcoin: Leveraging Blockchain To Benefit Business And Society, Rachel Epstein, Marcia Narine Weldon

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No abstract provided.

Seasonal Variability Of Sediment Controls Of Carbon Cycling In An Agricultural Stream, Sophie Comer-Warner, Daren Gooddy, Sami Ullah, Luke Glover, Aishling Percival, Nicholas Kettridge, Stefan` Krause

Articles

Streams and rivers are‘active pipelines’where high rates of carbon (C) turnover can lead to globally importantemissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) from surface waters to the atmosphere. Streambed sedi-ments are particularly important in affecting stream chemistry, with rates of biogeochemical activity, and CO2and CH4concentrations far exceeding those in surface waters. Despite an increase in research on CO2and CH4instreambed sediments there is a lack of knowledge and insight on seasonal dynamics. In this study the seasonallyvariable effect of sediment type (sand-dominated versus gravel-dominated) on porewater C cycling, includingCO2and CH4concentrations, was investigated. We found high concentrations of CO2and CH4in the …

Hard: A Heterogeneity-Aware Replica Deletion For Hdfs, Hilmi Egemen Ciritoglu, John Murphy, Christina Thorpe

Articles

The Hadoop distributed fle system (HDFS) is responsible for storing very large datasets reliably on clusters of commodity machines. The HDFS takes advantage of replication to serve data requested by clients with high throughput. Data replication is a trade-of between better data availability and higher disk usage. Recent studies propose diferent data replication management frameworks that alter the replication factor of fles dynamically in response to the popularity of the data, keeping more replicas for in-demand data to enhance the overall performance of the system. When data gets less popular, these schemes reduce the replication factor, which changes the data …

Exploring Subcellular Responses Of Prostate Cancer Cells To X-Ray Exposure By Raman Mapping, Maciej Roman, Agnieszka Panek, Hugh Byrne, Tomasz P Wrobel, Esen Efeoglu, Czeslawa Paluszkiewicz, Wojciech Maria Kwiatek

Articles

Understanding the response of cancer cells to ionising radiation is a crucial step in modern radiotherapy. Raman microspectroscopy, together with Partial Least Squares Regression (PLSR) analysis has been shown to be a powerful tool for monitoring biochemical changes of irradiated cells on the subcellular level. However, to date, the majority of Raman studies have been performed using a single spectrum per cell, giving a limited view of the total biochemical response of the cell. In the current study, Raman mapping of the whole cell area was undertaken to ensure a more comprehensive understanding of the changes induced by X-ray radiation. …

Raman Spectroscopy Of Blood Plasma Samples From Breast Cancer Patients At Different Stages., H. F. Nargis, H. Nawaz, A. Ditta, T. Mahmood, N. Rashid, M. Muddassar, M. I. Majeed, H. N. Bhatti, M. Saleem, K. Jilani, Franck Bonnier, Hugh Byrne

Articles

Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy.

The Role Of Previous Discourse In Identifying Public Textual Cyberbullying, Aurelia Power, Anthony Keane, Brian Nolan, Brian O'Neill

Articles

In this paper we investigate the contribution of previous discourse in identifying elements that are key to detecting public textual cyberbullying. Based on the analysis of our dataset, we first discuss the missing cyberbullying elements and the grammatical structures representative of discourse-dependent cyberbullying discourse. Then we identify four types of discourse dependent cyberbullying constructions: (1) fully inferable constructions, (2) personal marker and cyberbullying link inferable constructions, (3) dysphemistic element and cyberbullying link inferable constructions, and (4) dysphemistic element inferable constructions. Finally, we formalise a framework to resolve the missing cyberbullying elements that proposes several resolution algorithms. The resolution algorithms target …

Assessment Of Imagining And Material Characteristics Of A Radiopaque, Thermoresponsive Hydrogel For Intratumoral Administration To Solid Tumours, Seona Rossi, Timothy E. Murray, John Cassidy, Michael J. Lee, Helena M. Kelly

Articles

Introduction

Thermoresponsive hydrogels are gels which have different properties at varying temperatures. The objective of this study was to assess the material characteristics, imaging properties and chemotherapeutic drug release profile of a novel radiopaque thermoresponsive hydrogel, which is liquid at room temperature but solidifies at body temperature, to determine potential suitability for intratumoral delivery.

Materials and Methods

An iodinated radiopaque thermoresponsive hydrogel was formulated using iodixanol at a range of concentrations and assessed for sol-gel transition, radiopacity and imaging using CT and US. A lead formulation containing 9.22% w/w iodixanol was evaluated for injectability, disintegration and dual drug release of …

Relationship Of Ndvi And Oak (Quercus)Pollen Including A Predictive Model In The Sw Mediterranean Region, Rocío González-Naharro, Elia Quirós, Santiago Fernández-Rodríguez, Inmaculada Silva-Palacios, J. M. Maya-Manzano, Rafael Tormo-Molina, Raúl Pecero-Casimiro, Alejandro Monroy-Colin, Ángela Gonzalo-Garijo

Articles

Techniques of remote sensing are being used to develop phenological studies. Our goal is to study the correlation among the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) related with oak trees included in three set data polygons (15, 25 and 50 km to aerobiological sampling point as NDVI-15, 25 and 50), and oak (Quercus) daily average pollen counts from 1994 to 2013. The study was developed in the SW Mediterranean region with continuous pollen recording within the mean pollen season of each studied year. These pollen concentrations were compared with NDVI values in the locations containing the vegetation under a study based …

The Effect Of Curing And Zirconium Content On The Wettability And Structure Of A Silicate Hybrid Sol-Gel Material, Emma Machugh, Maikki Cullen, Alicja Kaworek, Brendan Duffy, Mohamed Oubaha

Articles

Functional hybrid sol-gel coatings have been developed for numerous applications with a wide range of wettabilities. This study proposes to investigate the relationship between the structure and the wetting properties of a zirconium modified silicate hybrid sol-gel coating. The structures of the coatings were altered by varying the content of zirconium, and the curing process, while keeping the sol-gel preparation conditions identical. The structure of the materials was characterized by FTIR, 29Si NMR and SEM. The thermal properties and the wettability are identified by DSC and contact angle measurements, respectively. By corroborating the structural and wettability analyses, it is shown …

Short Communication: A Simple Nanoparticle - Based Tio2 Memristor Device And The Role Of Defect Chemistry In Its Operation, Rafaela De Carvalho, Tony Betts, John Cassidy

Articles

A simple metal-semiconductor-metal device comprising TiO2 cast from a suspension of Degussa P25 and placed between two metal plates (Al/Al lap shears) demonstrated memristive-like resistive switching behaviour. A mechanism is proposed which relies upon the formation of p and n-type regions within the P25 semiconductor material ultimately leading to the formation of a p-n junction. This device also exhibited enhanced steady state currents upon the imposition of potential steps, most notably at higher potential magnitudes (both anodic and cathodic), indicating lack of ionic conduction.