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Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy For Quantification Of Sodium And Potassium In Minced Beef: A Potential Technique For Detecting Beef Kidney Adulteration, Y. Dixit, Maria Piedad Casado-Gavalda, R. Cama-Moncunill, Xavier Cama-Moncunill, Maria Markiewicz-Keszycka, Patrick J. Cullen, Carl Sullivan

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Beef is a rich source of important minerals, with potassium (K) being the most abundant mineral quantitatively except in cured meats where sodium (Na) from the added salt predominates. This study evaluates the capability of LIBS for quantification of the Na and K contents of minced beef as a potential method of detecting beef kidney adulteration. Additionally, the study aims to demonstrate the ability of LIBS to provide spatial mineral information of minced beef. A LIBS system was employed to collect spectral information of adulterated minced beef samples. Atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) was used to obtain reference values for Na …

Surface Attachment Of Active Antimicrobial Coatings Onto Conventional Plastic Based Laminates And Performance Assessment Of These Materials On The Storage Life Of Vacuum Packaged Beef Sub-Primals, D. Clarke, A. Tyuftin, M. Cruz-Romero, D. Bolton, S. Fanning, S. K. Pankai, Carmen Bueno-Ferrer, Patrick J. Cullen, J. P. Kerry

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Two antimicrobial coatings, namely Sodium octanoate and Auranta FV (a commercial antimicrobial composed of bioflavonoids, citric, malic, lactic, and caprylic acids) were used. These two antimicrobials were surface coated onto the inner polyethylene layer of cold plasma treated polyamide films using beef gelatin as a carrier and coating polymer. This packaging material was then used to vacuum pack beef sub-primal cuts and stored at 4 °C. A control was prepared using the non-coated commercial laminate and the same vacuum packaged sub-primal beef cuts. During storage, microbial and quality assessments were carried out. Sodium octanoate treated packages significantly (p < 0.05) reduced microbial counts for all bacteria tested with an increase of 7 and 14 days, respectively compared to control samples. No significant effect on pH was observed with any treatment. The results suggested that these food grade antimicrobials have the potential to be used in antimicrobial active packaging applications for beef products.

Challenges In Model Development For Meat Composition Using Multipoint Nir Spectroscopy From At‐Line To In‐Line Monitoring, Yash Dixit, Maria Piedad Casado-Gavalda, R. Cama-Moncunill, Patrick J. Cullen, Carl Sullivan

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This study evaluates the efficiency of multipoint near‐infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to predict the fat and moisture content of minced beef samples both in at‐line and on‐line modes. Additionally, it aims at identifying the obstacles that can be encountered in the path of performing in‐line monitoring. Near‐infrared (NIR) reflectance spectra of minced beef samples were collected using an NIR spectrophotometer, employing a Fabry‐Perot interferometer. Partial least squares regression (PLSR) models based on reference values from proximate analysis yielded calibration coefficients of determination of 0.96 for both fat and moisture. For an independent batch of samples, fat was estimated with a prediction …

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

Articles

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 …

Evaluation Of Chemical Immersion Treatments To Reduce Microbial Populations In Fresh Beef, Ahmed Kassem, Joseph Meade, James Gibbons, Kevina Mcgill, Ciara Walsh, James Lyng, Paul Whyte

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The aim of the current study was to assess the ability of a number of chemicals (acetic Acid (AA), citric acid (CA) lactic acid (LA), sodium decanoate (SD) and trisodium phosphate (TSP)) to reduce microbial populations (total viable count, Campylobacter jejuni, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium and Listeria monocytogenes) on raw beef using an immersion system. The following concentrations of each chemical were used: 3 & 5% for AA, CA, LA, SD and 10 & 12% for TSP. Possible synergistic effects of using combinations of two chemicals sequentially (LA +CA and LA +AA) were also investigated. L*, a* and b* values …

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

Articles

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 …

Efficacy And Mechanistic Insights Into Endocrine Disruptor Degradation Using Atmospheric Air Plasma, Chaitanya Sarangapani, M. Danaher, Brijesh Tiwari, Peng Lu, Paula Bourke, Patrick J. Cullen

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Endocrine disruptors are a class of contaminants found in water and process effluents at low concentrations. They are of concern due to their high estrogenic potency. Their presence in the environment has led to the search for effective techniques for their removal in wastewater. For this purpose, an atmospheric air plasma reactor was employed for the study of the degradation of three endocrine disruptor chemicals (EDC) namely; bisphenol A (BPA), estrone (E1) and 17β-estradiol (E2) within a model dairy effluent. Identification of the plasma induced active species both in the gas and liquid phases were performed. Also studied was the …

The Application Of Carbon Monoxide In Meat Packaging Needs To Be Re-Evaluated Within The Eu: An Overview, Lauren Anne Van Rooyen, Paul Allen, David I. O'Connor

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Carbon monoxide (CO) has many value-added benefits in meat packaging due to its colour stabilising effects and enhancement of meat quality attributes. The regulation of CO within meat packaging varies worldwide and remains a topical and controversial issue. CO is prohibited in the EU for use in meat packaging mainly due to fears it may mask spoilage therefore misleading consumers. The issue of consumer acceptance of CO was not considered. This article reviews the most pertinent literature to assess if the problems associated with the prohibition have been addressed. Applying CO pretreatments prior to vacuum packaging enhances colour while allowing …

A Review Of The Recommendations Governing Quality Assurance Of Ultrasound Systems Used For Guidance In Prostate Brachytherapy, Andrea Jane Doyle, Deirdre King, Jacinta Browne

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Ultrasound guided brachytherapy for the treatment of prostate cancer has become a routine treatment option, due to many benefits including patient recovery and dose localisation [1]; however it is not clear whether the standards which govern the image quality for these systems are adequate. Upon review of the recommended standards for ultrasound systems used in prostate brachytherapy procedures, the recommended tests do not appear to be specific to the clinical application of ultrasound guided prostate brachytherapy. Rather they are generic and similar to those recommended for other clinical applications such as general abdominal scanning [2]. Furthermore, there is growing evidence …

Broadband Acoustic Measurement Of The Agar-Based Tissue Mimicking Material: A Longitudinal Study, A. Rabell-Montiel, Jacinta Browne, S. D. Pye, T. A. Anderson, C. Moran

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Commercially available ultrasound quality assurance test phantoms rely on the long-term acoustic stability of the tissue-mimicking-material (TMM). Measurement of the acoustic properties of the TMM can be technically challenging, and it is important to ensure its stability. The standard technique is to film-wrap samples of TMM and to measure the acoustic properties in a water bath. In this study, a modified technique was proposed whereby the samples of TMM are measured in a preserving fluid that is intended to maintain their characteristics. The acoustic properties were evaluated using a broadband pulse-echo substitution technique over the frequency range 4.5–50 MHz at …

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 …

The Mainstream Scientific Community Is Open To Incremental But Not Holistic Ideas, Maurice Goodman

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NeuroQuantology

doi: 10.14704/nq.2017.15.2.1041

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 …

Raman Spectroscopy For Cytopathology Of Exfoliated Cervical Cells, Fiona Lyng, Ir Ramos, Aidan Meade, O. Ibrahim, M. Mcmenamin, M. Mckenna, A. Malkin

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No abstract provided.

Antibacterial Properties Of F-Doped Zno Visible Light Photocatalyst, Joanna Podporska-Carroll, Adam Myles, Brid Quilty, Declan Mccormack, Rachel Fagan, Steven Hinder, Dionysios D. Dionysiou, Suresh Pillai

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Nanocrystalline ZnO photocatalysts were prepared by a sol–gel method and modified with fluorine to improve their photocatalytic anti-bacterial activity in visible light. Pathogenic bacteria such as Escherichia coli (Gram-negative) and Staphylococcus aureus (Gram-positive) were employed to evaluate the antimicrobial properties of synthesized materials. The interaction with biological systems was assessed by analysis of the antibacterial properties of bacteria suspended in 2% (w/w) powder solutions. The F-doping was found to be effective against S. aureus (99.99% antibacterial activity) and E. coli (99.87% antibacterial activity) when irradiated with visible light. Production of reactive oxygen species is one of the major factors that …

Doxorubicin Kinetics And Effects On Lung Cancer Cell Lines Using In-Vitro Raman Micro-Spectroscopy: Binding Signatures, Drug Resistance And Dna Repair, Hugh Byrne, Franck Bonnier, Alan Casey, Orla L. Howe, Zeineb Farhane

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Raman micro-spectroscopy is a non-invasive analytical tool, whose potential in cellular analysis and monitoring drug mechanisms of action has already been demonstrated, and which can potentially be used in pre-clinical and clinical applications for the prediction of chemotherapeutic efficacy. To further investigate such potential clinical application, it is important to demonstrate its capability to differentiate drug mechanisms of action and cellular resistances. Using the example of Doxorubicin (DOX), in this study, it was used to probe the cellular uptake, signatures of chemical binding and subsequent cellular responses, of the chemotherapeutic drug in two lung cancer cell lines, A549 and Calu-1. …

Vibrational Spectroscopy As A Tool For Studying Drug-Cell Interaction: Could High Throughput Vibrational Spectroscopic Screening Improve Drug Development, Lauren E. Jamieson, Hugh Byrne

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Vibrational spectroscopy is currently widely explored as a tool in biomedical applications. An area at the forefront of this field is the use of vibrational spectroscopy for disease diagnosis, ultimately aiming towards spectral pathology. However, while this field shows promising results, moving this technique into the clinic faces the challenges of widespread clinical trials and legislative approval. While spectral pathology has received a lot of attention, there are many other biomedical applications of vibrational spectroscopy, which could potentially be translated to applications with greater ease. A particularly promising application is the use of vibrational spectroscopic techniques to study the interaction …

Prediction Of Viral Loads For Diagnosis Of Hepatitis C Infection In Human Plasma Samples Using Raman Spectroscopy Coupled With Partial Least Squares Regression Analysis, Hugh Byrne, Franck Bonnier, H. Nawaz, N. Rashid, M. Saleem

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Raman spectroscopy has been used to identify the biochemical changes associated with the presence of the Hepatitis C virus (HCV) in infected human blood plasma samples as compared with healthy samples, as control. The aim of the study was to establish the Raman spectral markers of hepatitis infection, which could be used for diagnostic purposes. Moreover, multivariate data analysis techniques, including Principal Component Analysis (PCA), coupled with Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA), and Partial Least Square Regression (PLSR) are employed to further demonstrate the diagnostic capability of the technique. The PLSR model is developed to predict the viral loads of the …

Monitoring Doxorubicin Cellular Uptake And Trafficking Using In Vitro Raman Microspectroscopy: Short And Long Time Exposure Effects On Lung Cancer Cell Lines, Zeineb Farhane, Franck Bonnier, Hugh Byrne

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Raman microspectroscopy is a non-invasive, in vitro analytical tool which is being increasingly explored for its potential in clinical applications and monitoring the uptake, mechanism of action and cellular interaction at a molecular level of chemotherapeutic drugs, ultimately as a potential label-free preclinical screening and companion diagnostic tool. In this study, doxorubicin (DOX), a “gold standard” chemotherapeutic drug, is employed as a model in the in vitro lung cancer cell line A549 in order to demonstrate the potential of Raman microspectroscopy to screen and identify spectroscopic markers of its trafficking and mechanism of action. Confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) was …

Determination Of Spectral Markers Of Cytotoxicity And Genotoxicity Using In Vitro Raman Microspectroscopy: Cellular Responses To Polyamidoamine Dendrimer Exposure, Esen Efeoglu, Alan Casey, Hugh Byrne

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Although consumer exposure to nanomaterials is ever increasing, with potential increased applications in areas such as drug and/or gene delivery, contrast agents and diagnosis, determination of cyto- and geno- toxic effect of nanomaterials on human health and the environment still remains challenging. Although many techniques have been established and adapted to determine the cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of nano-sized materials, these techniques remain limited by the number of assays required, total cost, use of labels and they struggle to explain the underlying interaction mechanisms. In this study, Raman microspectroscopy is employed as an in vitro label free high content screening technique …

Regulating Secrecy, W. Nicholson Price Ii

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Inventors face a stark choice between two intellectual property systems of protecting innovative ideas: patents and trade secrecy. But accounts of this choice underexplore the role of the regulators that dominate some areas of innovation. Regulation interacts with intellectual property exclusivity in socially problematic ways by encouraging secrecy at the expense of innovation, efficiency, and competition. This Article theorizes how regulation empowers intellectual property generally, explains why this strengthening is problematic for trade secrecy but not for patents, and offers the solution of regulator-enforced disclosure. When a regulator defines a product or a process, it becomes much harder to successfully …

Auditory Fatigue Model Applications To Predict Noise Induced Hearing Loss In Human And Chinchilla, Pengfei Sun, Daniel Fox, Kathleen Campbell, Jun Qin

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Noise induced hearing loss (NIHL) remains a severe health problem worldwide. Current noise metrics and models have assessment limitations on gradually developing NIHL (GDNIHL). In this study, we apply a complex velocity level (CVL) auditory fatigue model to quantitatively assess the impact of basilar membrane (BM) movement on GDNIHL. The transfer functions of chinchilla and human auditory systems, including the triple-path nonlinear (TRNL) filters to simulate the inner ear responses, are applied to obtain BM velocity distribution. Chinchilla and human experimental hearing loss data are used to validate the proposed CVL model’s effectiveness. The results reveal that the developed CVL …

An Examination Of The Neural Unreliability Thesis Of Autism, John Butler, Sophie Molholm, Gizely Andrade, John J. Foxe

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An emerging neuropathological theory of Autism, referred to here as “the neural unreliability thesis,” proposes greater variability in moment-to-moment cortical representation of environmental events, such that the system shows general instability in its impulse response function. Leading evidence for this thesis derives from functional neuroimaging, a methodology ill-suited for detailed assessment of sensory transmission dynamics occurring at the millisecond scale. Electrophysiological assessments of this thesis, however, are sparse and unconvincing. We conducted detailed examination of visual and somatosensory evoked activity using high-density electrical mapping in individuals with autism (N = 20) and precisely matched neurotypical controls (N = 20), recording …

Modelling Random Antibody Adsorption And Immunoassay Activity, Dana Mackey, Eilis Kelly, Robert Nooney

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One of the primary considerations in immunoassay design is optimizing the concentration of capture antibody in order to achieve maximal antigen binding and, subsequently, improved sensitivity and limit of detection. Many immunoassay technologies involve immobilization of the antibody to solid surfaces. Antibodies are large molecules in which the position and accessibility of the antigen-binding site depend on their orientation and packing density. In this paper we propose a simple mathematical model, based on the theory known as random sequential adsorption (RSA), in order to calculate how the concentration of correctly oriented antibodies (active site exposed for subsequent reactions) evolves during …

The Case Against Free Speech, Brian Leiter

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No abstract provided.

Litigating The Blue Wall Of Silence: How To Challenge The Police Privilege To Delay Investigation, Aziz Huq, Richard H. Mcadams

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No abstract provided.

Dietary Nitrate Acutely And Markedly Increased Exhaled Nitric Oxide In A Cystic Fibrosis Case, Conor Kerley, Emma Kilbride, Peter Greally, Basil Elnazir

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Airway nitric oxide (NO) is a ubiquitous signaling molecule with bronchoprotective, antiinflammatory and anti-infective roles. Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a chronic lung condition associated with deceased exhaled NO. Strategies to increase exhaled NO in CF have yielded inconsistent results. A potential new method of increasing systemic NO involves ingestion of dietary, inorganic nitrate which is reduced to nitrite and NO. We present the case of a 12 year-old, athletic male with CF who demonstrated acute but marked increases in exhaled NO following dietary nitrate consumption compared to placebo.

Organizational Responses To Institutional Pressures: Reconfiguration Of Spaces In Nanosciences And Nanotechnologies, Nicolas Battard, Paul Donnelly, Vincent Mangematin

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The literature on organizational responses to institutional pressures describes responses ranging from compliance to resistance via different modes of decoupling. However, although these studies provide a greater understanding of the phenomenon, they tend to be disparate and to consider the different elements separately. Through a comparative case study of six research teams in the area of nanosciences and nanotechnologies, we offer three contributions. Our first is to the decoupling literature by way of a complementary and cohesive framework, which shows that organizations vary in their responses by reconfiguring their physical (policy and materiality), mental (meaning) and social (identity) spaces, and …

Microbial Enzyme Production Using Lignocellulosic Food Industry Wastes As Feedstock: A Review, Amit Jaiswal, Rajeev Ravindran

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Enzymes are of great importance in the industry due to their substrate and product specificity, moderate reaction conditions, minimal by-product formation and high yield. They are important ingredients in several products and production processes. Up to 30% of the total production cost of enzymes is attributed to the raw materials costs. The food industry expels copious amounts of processing waste annually, which is mostlylignocellulosicin nature. Upon proper treatment,lignocellulosecan replace conventional carbon sources in media preparations for industrial microbial processes, such as enzyme production. However, wild strains of microorganisms that produce industrially important enzymes show low yield and cannot thrive on …

Fermentation-Assisted Extraction Of Isothiocyanates From Brassica Vegetable Using Box-Behnken Experimental Design, Amit Jaiswal, Nissreen Abu-Ghannam

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Recent studies showed that Brassica vegetables are rich in numerous health-promoting compounds such as carotenoids, polyphenols, flavonoids, and glucosinolates (GLS), as well as isothiocyanates (ITCs) and are involved in health promotion upon consumption. ITCs are breakdown products of GLS, and typically used in the food industry as a food preservative and colouring agent. They are also used in the pharmaceutical industry due to their several pharmacological properties such as antibacterial, antifungal, antiprotozoal, anti-inflammatory, and chemoprotective effects, etc. Due to their widespread application in food and pharmaceuticals, the present study was designed to extract ITCs from York cabbage. In order to …