Digital Commons Network^™

Playing At The Crossroads Of Religion And Law: Historical Milieu, Context And Curriculum Hooks In Lost & Found, Owen Gottlieb

Articles

This chapter presents the use of Lost & Found – a purpose-built tabletop to mobile game series – to teach medieval religious legal systems. The series aims to broaden the discourse around religious legal systems and to counter popular depiction of these systems which often promote prejudice and misnomers. A central element is the importance of contextualizing religion in period and locale. The Lost & Found series uses period accurate depictions of material culture to set the stage for play around relevant topics – specifically how the law promoted collaboration and sustainable governance practices in Fustat (Old Cairo) in twelfth-century …

Do You Want Some Sauce On That? Factors Influencing Dietary Habits Among The Irish Construction Workforce, Aileen Kennedy, Colm O'Gorman, Kenneth Lee

Articles

This paper presents an explanatory logic and an empirical illustration of how Stones’s strong structuration theory, specifically the methodological brackets of agent’s conduct and agent’s context analysis can be applied within case study research. The value of strong structuration theory, and the methodological bracketing tool, is its proximity to empirical research and the provision of robust guidelines which enable researchers to resolve the methodological challenges of combining structure and agency within research designs. We demonstrate the application of methodological bracketing as a tool for analysing structure and agency interactions within management research. The contribution of the paper is its explication …

An Assessment Of Contamination Fingerprinting Techniques For Determining The Impact Of Domestic Wastewater Treatment Systems On Private Well Supplies, Chris Fennell, Bruce Misstear, David O'Connell, Donata Dubber, Patrice Behan, Martin Danaher, Mary Moloney, Laurence Gill

Articles

Private wells in Ireland and elsewhere have been shown to be prone to microbial contamination with the main suspected sources being practices associated with agriculture and domestic wastewater treatment systems (DWWTS). While the microbial quality of private well water is commonly assessed using faecal indicator bacteria, such as Escherichia coli, such organisms are not usually source-specific, and hence cannot definitively conclude the exact origin of the contamination. This research assessed a range of different chemical contamination fingerprinting techniques (ionic ratios, artificial sweeteners, caffeine, fluorescent whitening compounds, faecal sterol profiles and pharmaceuticals) as to their use to apportion contamination of private …

Green Fractionation Of 2g And 3g Feedstocks For Ethanol Production: Advances, Incentives And Barriers, Behzad Satari, Amit Jaiswal

Articles

Efficient release of fermentable sugars from the complex biomass structure such as second-generation or third-generation feedstocks by an appropriate enzymatic hydrolysis needs a prior biomass fractionation. This process facilitates the exposure of more cellulose and hemicelluloses for enzymatic hydrolysis. This review focused on ‘green fractionation’ of biomass by applying the principles of green chemistry for bioethanol production. Besides, the recent technological achievements in applying these principles for the fractionation have been discussed. For green fractionation, energy delivery systems are referred to as microwave and ultrasound. Besides, green cellulose solvents, biomass-derived solvents, and supercritical carbon dioxide play an important role in …

In Silico And In Vitro Screening For Potential Anticancer Candidates Targeting Gpr120, Ajay Pal, James Curtin, Gemma K. Kinsella

Articles

The G-protein coupled receptor - GPR120 has recently been implicated as a novel target for colorectal cancer (CRC) and other cancer managements. In this study, a homology model of GPR120S (short isoform) was generated to identify potential anti-cancer compounds targeting the GPR120 receptor using a combined in silico docking-based virtual screening (DBVS), structure-activity relationships (SAR) and in vitro screening approach. SPECS database of synthetic chemical compounds (~350,000) was screened using the developed GPR120S model to identify molecules binding to the orthosteric binding pocket followed by an AutoDock SMINA rigid-flexible docking protocol. The best 13 hit molecules were then tested in …

Seaweed Polysaccharide In Food Contact Materials (Active Packaging, Intelligent Packaging, Edible Films, And Coatings), Kalpani Perera, Shubham Sharma, Dileswar Pradhan, Amit Jaiswal, Swarna Jaiswal

Articles

Food contact materials (FCMs) are materials that come in contact with food products such as food packaging which play a significant role in food quality and safety. Plastic, which is a major food packaging material, harms the ecosystem, wildlife, and the environment. As a result, numerous researches have been in progress on alternative polymers, which have similar properties as plastic but are also environmentally friendly (biodegradable). In recent years, the utilization of seaweed polysaccharides has piqued interest due to their biodegradability, non-toxicity, antioxidant capabilities, and excellent film formation ability. However, it has a number of drawbacks such as low tensile …

Seaweeds Polysaccharides In Active Food Packaging: A Review Of Recent Progress, Carina Dietz, Shubham Sharma, Amit Jaiswal, Swarna Jaiswal

Articles

Background

Due to its short lifetime, food packaging leads to a rapid accumulation of plastic in our surroundings and thereby also has a huge impact on environmental pollution. To reduce these effects and create a more sustainable approach towards food packaging, biodegradable and biobased polymers have been developed and are emerging on the market.

Scope and approach

This review provides the current state of research regarding active packaging and the incorporation of seaweed into food packaging. Further, it summarises the resulting consequences of the seaweed incorporation on mechanical, physical, thermal, antioxidant, antimicrobial, and chemical properties, as well as the release …

Structure Based Prediction Of A Novel Gpr120 Antagonist Based On Pharmacophore Screening And Molecular Dynamics Simulations, Ajay Pal Mr, Gemma K. Kinsella, James Curtin

Articles

The G-protein coupled receptor, GPR120, has ubiquitous expression and multifaceted roles in modulating metabolic and anti-inflammatory processes. Recent implications of its role in cancer progression have presented GPR120 as an attractive oncogenic drug target. GPR120 gene knockdown in breast cancer studies revealed a role of GPR120-induced chemoresistance in epirubicin and cisplatin-induced DNA damage in tumour cells. Higher expression and activation levels of GPR120 is also reported to promote tumour angiogenesis and cell migration in colorectal cancer. Some agonists targeting GPR120 have been reported, such as TUG891 and Compound39, but to date development of small-molecule inhibitors of GPR120 is limited. …

Inactivation Efficacy Of Atmospheric Air Plasma And Airborne Acoustic Ultrasound Against Bacterial Bioflms, Apurva Patange, Jeremy Simpson, James Curtin, Catherine Burgess, P.J. Cullen, Brijesh Tiwari

Articles

Bioflms are complex microbial communities that present serious contamination risks to our environment and health. In this study, atmospheric air plasma and airborne acoustic ultrasound technology were applied to inactivate Escherichia coli and Listeria innocua bioflms. Both technologies were efcient in controlling, or completely inactivating, the target bacterial bioflms. Viability and metabolic assays, along with microscopy analysis, revealed that atmospheric air plasma and airborne acoustic ultrasound damaged both the bacterial bioflm cells and its structural integrity. Scanning electron microscopy images highlighted the disruption of the bioflms and pore formation in bacterial cells exposed to both the plasma and acoustic treatments. …

Distinct Chemistries Define The Diverse Biological Effects Of Plasma Activated Water Generated With Spark And Glow Plasma Discharges, Evanthia Tsoukou, Maxime Delit, Louise Treint, Paula Bourke, Daniela Boehm

Articles

The spread of multidrug-resistant bacteria poses a significant threat to human health. Plasma activated liquids (PAL) could be a promising alternative for microbial decontamination, where different PAL can possess diverse antimicrobial efficacies and cytotoxic profiles, depending on the range and concentration of their reactive chemical species. In this research, the biological activity of plasma activated water (PAW) on different biological targets including both microbiological and mammalian cells was investigated in vitro. The aim was to further an understanding of the specific role of distinct plasma reactive species, which is required to tailor plasma activated liquids for use in applications where …

Ursolic Acid Inhibits Collective Cell Migration And Promotes Jnk-Dependent Lysosomal Associated Cell Death In Gioblastoma Multiforme Cells, Gillian Conway, Diamante Zizyte, Julie Mondala, Zhonglei He, Lorna Lynam, Mathilde Lecourt, Orla L. Howe, James Curtin

Articles

Ursolic acid (UA) is a bioactive compound which has demonstrated therapeutic efficacy in a variety of cancer cell lines. UA activates various signalling pathways in Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) and offers a promising starting point in drug discovery; however, understanding the relationship between cell death and migration has yet to be elucidated. UA induces a dose dependent cytotoxic response demonstrated by flow cytometry and biochemical cytotoxicity assays. Inhibitor and fluorescent probe studies demonstrate that UA induces a caspase independent, JNK dependent, mechanism of cell death. Migration studies established that UA inhibits GBM collective cell migration in a time dependent manner that …

Biomolecules As Model Indicators Of In Vitro And In Vivo Cold Plasma Safety, Caitlin Heslin, Daniela Boehm, Brendan F. Gilmore, Julianne Megaw, Theresa A. Freeman, Noreen Hickok, Patrick J. Cullen, Paula Bourke

Articles

The potential applications for cold plasma in medicine are extensive, from microbial inactivation and induction of apoptosis in cancer cells to stimulating wound healing and enhancing the blood coagulation cascade. The safe bio-medical application of cold plasma and subsequent effect on complex biological pathways requires precision and a distinct understanding of how physiological redox chemistry is manipulated. Chemical modification of biomolecules such as carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids treated with cold plasma have been characterized, however, the context of how alterations of these molecules affect cell behavior or in vivo functionality has not been determined. Thus, this study examines the cytotoxic …

Fruits And Vegetables In The Management Of Underlying Conditions For Covid-19 High-Risk Groups, Nora Moreb, Ahmed Albandary, Swarna Jaiswal, Amit Jaiswal

Articles

: SARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19 is a novel coronavirus, which is the cause of the current pandemic with 107,411,561 infections and 2,351,195 death worldwide so far. There are multiple symptoms that are linked with the infection of COVID-19 such as coughing, shortness of breath, congestion together with fatigue, fever, loss of taste or smell, headaches, diarrhea, vomiting, and loss of appetite. The lack of or early stage of development of a cure for COVID-19 illness, there is need for insuring the best possible position of health to be able to fight the virus naturally through a robust immune system to limit …

Salmonella, Food Safety And Food Handling Practices, Olugbenga Ehuwa, Amit Jaiswal, Swarna Jaiswal

Articles

: Salmonellosis is the second most reported gastrointestinal disorder in the EU resulting from the consumption of Salmonella-contaminated foods. Symptoms include gastroenteritis, abdominal cramps, bloody diarrhoea, fever, myalgia, headache, nausea and vomiting. In 2018, Salmonella accounted for more than half of the numbers of foodborne outbreak illnesses reported in the EU. Salmonella contamination is mostly associated with produce such as poultry, cattle and their feeds but other products such as dried foods, infant formula, fruit and vegetable products and pets have become important. Efforts aimed at controlling Salmonella are being made. For example, legislation and measures put in place reduced …

Plasma-Treated Water Affects Listeria Monocytogenes Vitality And Biofilm Structure, Oliver Handorf, Viktoria Isabella Pauker, Thomas Weihe, Uta Schnabel, Eric Freund, Sander Bekeschus, Katharina Riedel, Jörg Ehlbeck

Articles

Plasma-generated compounds (PGCs) such as plasma-processed air (PPA) or plasma-treated water (PTW) offer an increasingly important alternative for the treatment of microorganisms in hard-to-reach areas found in several industrial applications including the food industry. To this end, we studied the antimicrobial capacity of plasma-treated water on the vitality and biolm formation of Listeria monocytogenes, a common food spoilage microorganism. Using a microwave plasma (MidiPLexc), 10 ml of deionized water was treated for 100 s, 300 s and 900 s (pretreatment time) and the bacterial biolm was subsequently exposed to the PTW for 1 min, 3 min and 5 min (posttreatment …

A Kitchen At The Heart Of A School–An Investigation Into School Meals In The Republic Of Ireland, Michelle Darmody

Articles

Free school meals provide support to vulnerable families in the Republic of Ireland. Funding is allocated as part of an anti-poverty strategy. An investigation was carried out to discover if the school meal could be used to provide nutritious scratch-cooked food as well as providing opportunities for increased socialisation and pedagogy. Food affects students in a myriad of ways and schools are in a unique position to guide what and how young people eat. This article draws on data from an ethnographic study in an inner city Dublin school.

Comparing Passenger Satisfaction, Employees’ Perspective And Performance On Quality And Safety Indicators: A Field Study, Luca D’Alonzo, Maria Chiara Leva, Edgardo Bucciarelli

Articles

This paper aims to analyze the impact that different attributes related to a Regional Airport service and the socio-economic factors of the passengers have on the passenger’s overall satisfaction. The study also compared passenger and employee satisfaction in relation to the service offered by the airport, to identify possible critical areas of improvement. An Ordinal Logistic Regression (OLR) approach was used to model how the attributes considered for qualifying airport services and the socio-economic variables impact the predicted variable (i.e., passenger satisfaction). Furthermore, the results were triangulated to include quality and safety performance indicators as an objective anchor point for …

Mortality Risk Attributable To Wildfire-Related Pm2·5 Pollution: A Global Time Series Study In 749 Locations, Gongbo Chen, Yuming Guo, Xu Yue, Shilu Tong, Antonio Gasparrini Antonio Gasparrini, Michelle L. Bell, Joel Schwartz, Jouni J K Jaakkola, Antonella Zanobetti, Eric Lavigne, Paulo Hilario Nascimento Saldiva, Haidong Kan, Dominic Royé, Ai Milojevic, Ala Overcenco, Aleš Urban, Alexandra Schneider, Alireza Entezari, Ana Maria Vicedo-Cabrera, Ariana Zeka, Aurelio Tobias, Baltazar Nunes, Barrak Alahmad, Bertil Forsberg, Shih-Chun Pan, Carmen Íñiguez, Caroline Ameling, César De La Cruz Valencia, Christofer Åström, Danny Houthuijs, Do Van Dung, Evangelia Samoli, Fatemeh Mayvaneh, Francesco Sera, Gabriel Carrasco-Escobar, Yadong Lei, Hans Orru, Ho Kim, Iulian-Horia Holobaca, Jan Kyselý, João Paulo Teixeira, Joana Madureira, Klea Katsouyanni, Magali Hurtado-Díaz, Marek Maasikmets, Martina S Ragettli, Masahiro Hashizume, Massimo Stafoggia, Mathilde Pascal, Matteo Scortichini, Micheline De Sousa Zanotti Stagliorio Coêlho, Nicolás Valdés Ortega, Niilo R I Ryti, Noah Scovronick, Patricia Matus, Patrick J. Goodman, Rebecca M Garland, Rosana Abrutzky, Samuel Osorio Garcia, Shilpa Rao, Simona Fratianni, Tran Ngoc Dang, Valentina Colistro, Veronika Huber, Whanhee Lee, Xerxes Seposo, Yasushi Honda, Yue Leon Guo, Tingting Ye, Wenhua Yu, Michael J. Abramson, Jonathan M. Samet, Shanshan Li

Articles

Many regions of the world are now facing more frequent and unprecedentedly large wildfires. However, the association between wildfire-related PM2·5 and mortality has not been well characterised. We aimed to comprehensively assess the association between short-term exposure to wildfire-related PM2·5 and mortality across various regions of the world.

Computational Solutions Based On Bayesian Networks To Hierarchize And To Predict Factors Influencing Gender Fairness In The Transport System: Four Use Cases, Gemma Dolores Molero, Sara Poveda-Reyes, Ashwani Kumar Malviya Ashwani Kumar Malviya, Elena García-Jiménez, Maria Chiara Leva, Francisco Enrique Santarremigia

Articles

: Previous studies have highlighted inequalities and gender differences in the transport system. Some factors or fairness characteristics (FCs) strongly influence gender fairness in the transport system. The difference with previous studies, which focus on general concepts, is the incorporation of level 3 FCs, which are more detailed aspects or measures that can be implemented by companies or infrastructure managers and operators in order to increase fairness and inclusion in each use case. The aim of this paper is to find computational solutions, Bayesian networks, and analytic hierarchy processes capable of hierarchizing level 3 FCs and to predict by simulation …

Doctors Can’T Be Doctors All Of The Time: A Qualitative Study Of How General Practitioners And Medical Students Negotiate Public-Professional And Private-Personal Realms Using Social Media, Megan Marshall, Vikram Niranjan, Eimear Spain, Joe Macdonagh, Jane O'Doherty, Raymond O'Connor, Andrew O'Regan

Articles

The objective of this study is to explore the experiences and perspectives of general practitioners’ and medical students’ use of, and behaviour on, social media and to understand how they negotiate threats to professional and personal life on social media.

Plasma-Treated Water Affects Listeria Monocytogenes Vitality And Biofilm Structure, Oliver Handorf

Articles

Plasma-generated compounds (PGCs) such as plasma-processed air (PPA) or plasma-treated water (PTW) offer an increasingly important alternative for the control of microorganisms in hard-to-reach areas found in several industrial applications including the food industry. To this end, we studied the antimicrobial capacity of PTW on the vitality and biofilm formation of Listeria monocytogenes, a common foodborne pathogen.

Food Contact Surfaces: Challenges, Legislation And Solutions, Shubham Sharma, Amit Jaiswal, Brendan Duffy, Swarna Jaiswal

Articles

Food contact surfaces (FCSs) include all surfaces that may come in contact with the food during production, processing, and packaging. Food processing industries encounter several challenges due to its microbial interaction with the FCSs, such as cross-contamination of pathogenic microorganisms or allergens in food, formation of biofilm, biodeterioration of food contact surface leads to food with reduced shelf-life and quality. A legal EU framework provides the fundamental postulates for the safety and inertness of all Food Contact Materials (FCMs). Legislations have an important role in providing regulatory guidance on the quality assurance systems and verifying their implementation as a means …

Language Policy-Making In Ireland: A Preliminary Study Of The Consultation Process Of Languages Connect, Iker Erdocia, Susanna Nocchi, Mary Ruane

Articles

This study aims to explore the policy-making process of Languages Connect - Ireland’s Strategy for Foreign Languages in Education 2017-2026. For that purpose, we concentrate on the consultation process adopted by the Department of Education and Skills. Drawing on a concept of foreign language competence as human capital, the aim of this study is twofold. Firstly, we investigate the extent to which the submissions to the consultation process form a sequence with the final document, Languages Connect; secondly, we examine the Irish government documents and compare the submissions reflecting the government approach to language with those problematising such discourse. The …

Latin American Film, Mirna Vohnsen

Articles

The scholarship on Latin American film in 2019 speaks of the rich and diverse critical studies that are being conducted in the field. This year the studies encompass a wide range of topics, like the role of Netflix in the production, distribution and consumption of Latin American films; the contention between national cinemas and transnationalism; and the re-examination of films made in the last century. Although publications showcasing the cinemas of Argentina, Mexico and Cuba continue to dominate the field, two special issues have been published shedding light on lesser-studied cinemas, Studies in Spanish and Latin American Cinemas has dedicated …

International Rule Of Law And Domestic Courts: A Few Concerns, Akhila Basalalli

Articles

The manifestation of the international rule of law appears as one of the possible paths to check the rule of power and establish an egalitarian system. Many international organizations have emphasized on the international rule of law in their objectives and mandates and have called the states to act in their service. The domestic courts have resonated with the call by exhibiting internationalism in their decisions. The international norms have been domesticated by the courts by adopting several incorporation and interpretation methods. The domestic courts, therefore, have been called as the ‘agents’ in the service of international law and protectors …

From Bench To Worktop: Rapid Evaluation Of Nutritional Parameters In Liquid Foodstuffs By Ir Spectroscopy, David Perezguaita

Articles

We evaluated the use of attenuated total reflectance infrared spectroscopy for simultaneous in situ quantification of the nutritional composition of liquid food stuffs in the industrial kitchen context. Different methodologies were compared, including dry and wet acquisition along with instrument parameters and measurement times of 4 and 60 s. The most effective technique was 1-minute measurement, with prediction errors of 2.6, 0.7, 1.0, 2.2, 0.8, 2.4 g/100 mL and 150 Kcal, for carbohydrates, proteins, fat, sugars, saturated fat, water and energy values, respectively.The 4-second method resulted in larger errors but was more applicable for inline measurements. Dry measurements successfully predicted …

Perspectives On Cyber Security For Offshore Oil And Gas Assets, Iosif Progoulakis, Nikitas Nikitakos, Paul Rohmeyer, Barry Bunin, Dimitrios Dalaklis, Stavros Karamperidis

Articles

In an ever-evolving technological industry, the oil and gas sector is already moving forward through the adaptation of Industry 4.0 and the adaptation of advanced cyber technologies through Oil and Gas 4.0. As IT/OT (information technology/operational technology) systems are evolving technologically, so are the cyber security threats faced by the offshore oil and gas assets. This paper aims to raise the awareness of cyber security threats and the organizational and technical measures that need to be adopted by the oil and gas industry for remote and complex assets in the upstream sector. A comprehensive literature review covering the areas of …

Perspectives On Cyber Security For Offshore Oil And Gas Assets, Iosif Progoulakis, Nikitas Nikitakos, Paul Rohmeyer, Barry Bunin, Dimitrios Dalaklis, Stavros Karamperidis

Articles

In an ever-evolving technological industry, the oil and gas sector is already moving forward through the adaptation of Industry 4.0 and the adaptation of advanced cyber technologies through Oil and Gas 4.0. As IT/OT (information technology/operational technology) systems are evolving technologically, so are the cyber security threats faced by the offshore oil and gas assets. This paper aims to raise the awareness of cyber security threats and the organizational and technical measures that need to be adopted by the oil and gas industry for remote and complex assets in the upstream sector. A comprehensive literature review covering the areas of …

The Northwest Passage In The Arctic : A Brief Assessment Of The Relevant Marine Transportation System And Current Availability Of Search And Rescue Services, Rebecca Sheehan, Dimitrios Dalaklis, Anastasia Christodoulou, Megan Drewniak, Peter Raneri, Angelos Dalaklis

Articles

No abstract provided.

Liquefied Natural Gas As Ship Fuel : A Maltese Regulatory Gap Analysis, Mark Philip Cassar, Dimitrios Dalaklis, Fabio Ballini, Seyedvahid Vakili

Articles

With water covering almost three-quarters of the Earth’s surface and by factoring in that the maritime transport industry is holding a comparative advantage in relation to all other means, activities associated with the seas and oceans of our planet are extremely vital for a normal functioning of global trade. Furthermore, evaluating the opportunities of the so-called “Blue Economy” and possibilities for further growth should be at the epicentre of future development plans. Indicative examples - apart from various endeavours of maritime transport - include other sectors, like shipbuilding and repairs, fishing activities and related processes, as well as oil and …