Digital Commons Network^™

Raman Mapping Coupled To Self Modelling Mcr-Als Analysis To Estimate Active Cosmetic Ingredient Penetration Profile In Skin, Aline Stella, Franck Bonnier, Ali Tfayli, Florent Yvergnaux, Hugh Byrne, Igor Chourpa, Emilie Munnier, Clovis Tauber

Articles

Confocal Raman mapping (CRM) is a powerful, label free, non-destructive tool, enabling molecular characterization of human skin with applications in the dermo-cosmetic field. Coupling CRM to multivariate analysis can be used to monitor the penetration and permeation of active cosmetic ingredients (ACI) after topical application. It is presently illustrated how multivariate curve resolution alternating least squares (MCR-ALS) can be applied to detect and semi-quantitatively describe the diffusion profile of Delipidol, a commercially available slimming ACI, from Raman spectral maps. Although the analysis outcome can be critically dependent on the a priori selection of the number of regression components, it is …

Atr-Ir Spectroscopy For Rapid Quantification Of Water Content In Deep Eutectic Solvents, Suha Elderderi, Charlotte Leman-Loubiére, Laura Wills, Sandra Henry, Dominique Bertrand, Hugh Byrne, Igor Chourpa, Cécile Enguehard-Gueiffier, Emilie Munnier, Abdalla A. Elbashir, Leslie Boudesocque-Delaye, Franck Bonnier

Articles

Natural Deep Eutectic solvents (NADES) are green, ionic solutions prepared by mixing vegetal cellular constituents. They are renewable and biodegradable solvents composed of hydrogen bonded donor and acceptor compounds. NADES have a wide range of applications, mainly as solvents for extraction of plants, biocatalysis, and nanoparticle synthesis. Water content is very critical, impacting significantly on NADES properties. Therefore, controlling H2O concentration appears essential for optimal use of NADES. In the present study, Attenuated Total Reflectance – infrared spectroscopy (ATR-IR) coupled to multivariate analysis, namely Partial Least Square s regression (PLSR), was investigated as a rapid, label free and cost-effective tool …

Exploiting Fourier Transform Infrared And Raman Microspectroscopies On Cancer Stem Cells From Oral Squamous Cells Carcinoma: New Evidence Of Acquired Csplatin Chemoresistance, Valentina Notarstefano, Simona Sabbatini, Chiaro Pro, Alessia Belloni, Giulia Orilisi, Corrado Rubini, Hugh Byrne, Lisa Vaccari, Elisabetta Giorgini

Articles

Oral Squamous Cells Carcinoma (OSCC) is characterised by the risk of recurrence and the onset of a refractoriness response to chemotherapy drugs. These phenomena have been recently related to a subpopulation of Cancer Stem Cells (CSCs), which have either an innate or acquired drug resistance, triggered by chemotherapy treatments. In this light, to precisely target chemotherapy regimens, it is essential to improve knowledge on CSCs, with a particular focus on their molecular features. In this work, a subpopulation of CSCs, isolated by tumour sphere formation from primary OSCC cells, were treated with cisplatin for 16, 24 and 48 hours and …

Liposomal Encapsulation Of Silver Nanoparticles (Agnp) Improved Nanoparticle Uptake And Induced Redox Imbalance To Activate Caspase-Dependent Apoptosis, Azeez O. Yusef, Alan Casey

Articles

Macrophages play a crucial role in several diseases’ development and progression, such as in cancer and arthritis through ROS generation and infammation. This makes macrophages a therapeutic target in these diseases. While silver nanoparticles (AgNP) have been widely used as an antibacterial and investigated as anticancer, its potential against macrophages may be limited due to its inherent oxidative mechanism. Here we encapsulated AgNP in a dipalmitoyl-phosphatidyl choline (DPPC) liposome (forming Lipo-AgNP) to suppress AgNP-induced ROS and enhance its cytotoxicity against THP1-diferentiated macrophages (TDM). Our fndings showed that while Lipo-AgNP had signifcantly more of a cytotoxic efect on TDMs (p< 0.01), it also signifcantly suppressed AgNP induced ROS generation and unexpectedly suppressed reduced glutathione (GSH) levels (p< 0.05) resulting in a redox imbalance in comparison to the unexposed control TDMs. Lipo-AgNP was also found to cause an increase DNA damage through H2AX histone phosphorylation and inhibition of Bcl-2 protein expression. This increased the Bax/Bcl2 ratio causing possible release of cytochrome C and subsequent caspase 3/7-dependent apoptosis. It was found that the diference between the mechanism of AgNP and Lipo-AgNP cytotoxicity may have been through the signifcantly increased Lipo-AgNP uptake by the TDMs as early as 30 min post-exposure (p< 0.05), changing the nanoparticle pharmacokinetic. In conclusion, the improved uptake of AgNP within the liposome caused ROS-independent caspase activation induced by Lipo-AgNP and this was facilitated by increased DNA damage, the induced redox imbalance and an increased Bax/Bcl-2 ratio.

Cognitive Performance In Midlife Type 2 Diabetes: Results Form The Enbind Study, A. H. Dyer, L. Mckenna, G. Gamage, N. M. Bourke, Isabelle Killane, M. Widdowson, C. P. Woods, J. Gibney, R. Reilly, D. O'Neill, S. P. Kennelly

Articles

Aims: To establish the impact of uncomplicated type 2 diabetes on cognitive and neuropsychological performance in midlife. Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study of middle-aged adults with uncomplicated type 2 diabetes and a cohort of healthy control participants. General cognition was assessed using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment test and neuropsychological assessment was undertaken using a detailed neuropsychological assessment battery. Results: A total of 152 participants (102 with type 2 diabetes and 50 controls) were recruited (mean age 52 ± 8 years, 51% women). Participants with midlife type 2 diabetes were more than twice as likely to make an error on …

A “Net-Centric” Conduct Of Navigation And Ship Management, Dimitrios Dalaklis, Georgios Katsoulis, Momoko Kitada, Jens-Uwe Schröder-Hinrichs, Aykut I. Ölcer

Articles

Following the so-called “Industrial Revolution”, the shipping industry has benefitted from a very extended number of technology innovations. Over time, shipbuilding practices and the equipment of ships have been significantly improved. Furthermore,

during the last couple of decades, the continuous improvement and integration- interconnection of electronics systems (the “network-centric” approach), have created

a new operating environment for shipping. It is therefore not a coincidence that recent discussions on digitalization and autonomous ships provide a disruptive picture of how this industry may be transformed in the near future. Contemporary sea-going vessels are equipped with various technologically advanced systems and are highly …

Oil Spill Response Training In The South Baltic Sea Region, Dimitrios Dalaklis, Anastasia Christodoulou, Momoko Kitada

Articles

No abstract provided.

Improving Governance Of Maritime Higher Education Institutions To Ensure Success Of Filipino Cadets, Cleto Del Rosario,, Dimitrios Dalaklis, Momoko Kitada, Johan Bolmsten

Articles

No abstract provided.

Consumer Activism: From The Informed Minority To The Crusading Minority, Yonathan A. Arbel, Roy Shapira

Articles

Legal scholars have long recognized that market norms are respected not only because of consumer protection laws, but also because of internal market dynamics. Consumers, the argument goes, fend for themselves and hold sellers accountable. But how exactly do consumers discipline sellers? The most influential model has been the informed minority theory, according to which a critical mass of informed consumers reads and negotiates contracts in advance, thereby pressuring sellers to offer better contracts to all consumers. Recent empirical studies, however, cast doubt on the existence of such a mass, leading many to view the informed minority theory as unrealistic. …

High Lymph Node Positive To Sampled Ratio As A Potential Indication For Postoperative Radiation Therapy In Patients With Pn2 Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer, Nikhil P Mankuzhy, Muayad F Almahariq, Craig W Stevens, Thomas J Quinn

Articles

Background: The role for postoperative radiation therapy (PORT) for patients with non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with mediastinal lymph node (LN) involvement (pN2 disease) is controversial. We performed a SEER analysis comparing surgery alone with PORT among patients with pN2 NSCLC. As we await the final results of the LUNG ART trial, a subset of patients with a high LN positive to sampled (LPR) ratio may benefit from PORT. Patients/methods: Patients with pN2 NSCLC, ranging from 1989-2016, were assessed from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database. A propensity score (PS)-matched, inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) analysis was conducted …

Accounting For The Local Field When Determining The Dielectric Loss Spectra Of Metals In The Region Of The Frequencies Of Volume, Surface And Localized Plasmon Oscillations, Tatiana Perova, Igor Shaganove, Kevin Berwick

Articles

The optical constant of bulk metal is used to determine the dispersion of the local field under one-dimensional (1D), two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) confinement. 3D confinement, expressed as ε mic 2 (ω3D), corresponds to the dielectric loss spectra of spherical particles with a diameter, d, much less than the wavelength of the beam used to measure the spectrum (d << λ). Excellent agreement with the results of Mie theory and experimental data for solid colloids within alkali halide crystals was observed. The function expressed as ε mic 2 (ω1D) allows the measurement of spectral micro-characteristics in the frequency range of the longitudinal collective motion of the free electrons. This corresponds to the spectrum of dielectric losses of bulk plasma oscillations. The function ε mic 2 (ω2D) describes the spectra of the dielectric losses of surface plasma oscillations in thin metal films. It is shown that the peak positions of ε mic 2 (ω3D), ε mic 2 (ω2D) and ε mic 2 (ω1D) spectra for simple metals, viz. alkali metals as well as Al, Be, Mg, Ga, In, Sn and Si, are in agreement with experimental results from electron-energy-loss spectroscopy and various optical techniques.

Covid-19: A Simple Curve Approximation Tool, Jane Courtney

Articles

In the current COVID-19 pandemic, much focus is put on ‘flattening the curve’. This ‘curve’ refers to the cases versus time graph, which shows the rise of a disease to its peak before descending. The aim in a pandemic is to flatten this curve by reducing the peak and spreading out the timeline. However, the models used to predict this curve are often not clearly outlined, no model parameters are given, and models are not tested against real data. This lack of detail makes it difficult to recreate the curve from these models. What is much needed is a simple …

Performance Investigation Of Peak Shrinking And Interpolating The Papr Reduction Technique For Lte-Advance And 5g Signals, Somayeh Mohammady, Ronan Farrell, David Malone, John Dooley

Articles

Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) has become an indispensable part of waveform generation in wideband digital communication since its first appearance in digital audio broadcasting (DAB) in Europe in 1980s, and it is indeed in use. As has been seen, the OFDM based waveforms work well with time division duplex operation in new radio (NR) systems in 5G systems, supporting delay-sensitive applications, high spectral efficiency, massive multiple input multiple output (MIMO) compatibility, and ever-larger bandwidth signals, which has demonstrated successful commercial implementation for 5G downlinks and uplinks up to 256-QAM modulation schemes. However, the OFDM waveforms suffer from high peak …

Self-Similar Pcosecond Pulse Compression For Supercontinuum Generation At Mid-Infrared Wavelength In Silicon Strip Waveguides, Yujun Cheng, Jinhui Yuan, Chao Mei, Feng Li, Zhe Kang, Binbin Yan, Xian Zhou, Qiang Wu, Kuiru Wang, Xinzhu Sang, Keping Long, Chongxiu Yu, Gerald Farrell

Articles

Self-similar pulse compression has important application in highly coherent supercontinuum (SC) generation. In this paper, we numerically present the mid-infrared self-similar picosecond pulse compression in a tapered suspended silicon strip waveguide, which is designed with exponentially decreasing dispersion profile along the direction of propagation. When the variation of the Kerr nonlinear coefficient ��(z), linear and nonlinear losses, higher-order nonlinearity, and higher-order dispersion are taken into consideration, the simulation result shows that a 1 ps input pulse centered at wavelength 2.8 μm could be self-similarly compressed to 47.06 fs in a 3.9-cm waveguide taper, along with a compression factor ��c of …

Applications Of Artificial Intelligence To Cryptography, Jonathan Blackledge, Napo Mosola

Articles

This paper considers some recent advances in the field of Cryptography using Artificial Intelligence (AI). It specifically considers the applications of Machine Learning (ML) and Evolutionary Computing (EC) to analyze and encrypt data. A short overview is given on Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) and the principles of Deep Learning using Deep ANNs. In this context, the paper considers: (i) the implementation of EC and ANNs for generating unique and unclonable ciphers; (ii) ML strategies for detecting the genuine randomness (or otherwise) of finite binary strings for applications in Cryptanalysis. The aim of the paper is to provide an overview on …

A Conceptual Model To Explain Dark Matter And Dark Energy, Jonathan Blackledge

Articles

t This paper considers a conceptual model that attempts to explain ‘Dark Matter’ and ‘Dark Energy’. The model is based on considering a gravitational field to be the result of a mass (a Higgs field) scattering pre-existing cosmic background space-time waves or ‘Uber-waves’. The term ‘Uber’ is used to denote an outstanding or supreme example of a particular kind of gravitational wave with cosmic-scale wavelengths that are far in excess of those associated with the gravitational waves generated by accelerating masses. Such waves are taken to be the very lowest frequency components associated with the spectrum of space-time waves generated …

Reformulating The Binary Masking Approach Of Adress As Soft Masking, Ruairí De Fréin

Articles

Binary masking forms the basis for a number of source separation approaches that havebeen successfully applied to the problem of de-mixing music sources from a stereo recording.A well-known problem with binary masking is that, when music sources overlap in the time-frequencydomain, only one of the overlapping sources can be assigned the energy in a particulartime-frequency bin. To overcome this problem, we reformulate the classical pan-pot source separationproblem for music sources as a non-negative quadratic program. This reformulation gives rise toan algorithm, called Redress, which extends the popular Adress algorithm. It works by definingan azimuth trajectory for each source based on …

A Wide Frequency Scanning Printed Bruce Array Antenna With Bowtie And Semi-Circular Elements, Zeeshan Ahmed, Patrick Mcevoy, Max Ammann

Articles

A printed edge-fed counterpart of the wire Bruce array antenna, for frequency scanning applications, is presented in this paper. The unit-cell of the proposed antenna consists of bowtie and semi-circular elements to achieve wide bandwidth from below 22 GHz to above 38 GHz with open-stopband suppression. The open-stopband suppression enables a wide seamless scanning range from backward, through broadside, to forward endfire. A sidelobe threshold level of −10 dB is maintained to evaluate efficient scanning performance of the antenna. The antenna peak realized gain is 15.30 dBi, and, due to its compact size, has the ability to scan from −64° …

Spectral Dependence Of Transmission Losses In High-Index Polymer Coated No-Core Fibers, Xiaokang Lian, Gerald Farrell, Qiang Wu, Wei Han, Changyu Shen, Youqiao Ma, Yuliya Semenova

Articles

A high-index polymer coated no-core fiber (PC-NCF) is effectively a depressed core fiber, where the light is guided by the anti-resonant, inhibited coupling and total internal reflection effects and the dispersion diagram shows periodic resonant and anti-resonant bands. In this paper, the transmission spectra of the straight and bent PC-NCFs (length > 5 cm) are measured and analyzed from a modal dispersion perspective. For the purpose of the study, the PC-NCFs are contained within a fiber hetero-structure using two single-mode fiber (SMF) pigtails forming a SMF-PC-NCF-SMF structure. The anti-resonance spectral characteristics are suppressed by the multimode interference in the PC-NCF with …

The Effect Of High Background And Dead Time Of An Ingaas/Inp Single-Photon Avalanche Photodiode On The Registration Of Microsecond Range Near-Infrared Luminescence, P. S. Parfenov, A. P. Litvin, D. A. Onishchuk, K. A. Gonchar, Kevin Berwick, A. V. Fedorov, A. V. Baranov

Articles

The effects of a high background count and a microsecond dead time interval on a gated InGaAs/InP single-photon avalanche photodiode (SPAD) during microsecond luminescence decay registration are discussed. It is shown that the background count rate of the SPAD limits its use for time-resolved and steady-spectral measurements, and that a “pile-up” effect appears in the microsecond range.

Carbon-Based Interlayers In Perovskite Solar Cells, Aleksandr P. Litvin, Xiaoyu Zhang, Kevin Berwick, Anatoly V. Fedorov, Weitao Zheng, Alexander V. Baranov

Articles

Perovskites are solution-processed, high-performance semiconductors of interest in low-cost photovoltaics. The interfaces between the perovskite photoactive layers and the top and bottom contacts are crucial for efficient charge transport and minimizing trapping. Control of the collection of charge carriers at these interfaces is decisive to device performance. Here, we review recent progress in the realization of efficient perovskite solar cells using cheap, easily processed, stable, carbon-based interlayers. Interface materials including graphene, carbon nanotubes, fullerenes, graphene quantum dots and carbon dots are introduced and their influence on device performance is discussed.

Application Of Demand Response To Improve Voltage Regulation With High Dg Penetration, Chittesh Veni Chandran, Malabika Basu, Keith Sunderland, Shivananda Pukhrem, João Catalão

Articles

The ability of a consumer friendly demand response based voltage control (DR-VC) program to improve the voltage regulation in a low voltage distribution network (LVDN) with high penetration of DG is investigated. The use of active and reactive power management to regulate the nodal voltage in a distribution network with simple incremental reduction algorithm, in conjunction with DR, is proposed as a solution for over voltage and undervoltage issues in the LVDN. The algorithm micromanages the load and generation in the network enabling the operator to utilize grid resources economically and efficiently while maintaining fairness between consumers with minimum inconvenience. …

The Missing Parameter In Renewable Energy Power Quality Analysis, I.E. The Coefficient Of Variation: Case Study Of A 3-Mw On-Site Wind Turbine Project In Ireland, Tony Kealy

Articles

Businesses are employing distributed generation techniques, such as wind turbines, to decarbonise their electrical energy supply by reducing their dependence on fossil-fuel-generated energy. This study investigates the effectiveness of a company making a €3,500,000 investment in a 3-MW on-site wind turbine to supply some or all of their factory electrical loads. The results should benefit the investing company and other potential investors by evaluating the economic, environmental, and social outcomes of the investment. A case study methodology was used. The study found that the payback period was six and a half years, and the turbine installation benefited the environment by …

In Vivo Activity Of Copper(Ii), Manganese(Ii), And Silver(I) 1,10-Phenanthroline Chelates, Rafael M. Ghandra, Pauraic Mccarron, Livia Viganor, Mariana Farias Fernandes, Kevin Kavanagh, Malachy Mccann, Marta H. Branquinha, André L.S. Santos, Orla L. Howe, Michael Devereux

Articles

Candida haemulonii is an emerging opportunistic pathogen resistant to most antifungal drugs currently used in clinical arena. Metal complexes containing 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) chelating ligands have well-established anti-Candida activity against different medically relevant species. This study utilized larvae of Galleria mellonella, a widely used model of in vivo infection, to examine C. haemulonii infection characteristics in response to different copper(II), manganese(II), and silver(I) chelates containing phen, which had demonstrated potent anti-C. haemulonii activity in a previous study. The results showed that C. haemulonii virulence was influenced by inoculum size and incubation temperature, and the host G. mellonella immune …

Breastfeeding Practices 2008–2009 Among Chinese Mothers Living In Ireland: A Mixed Methods Study, Qianling Zhou, Katherine Younger, Tanya M. Cassidey, Wenyi Wang, John Kearney

Articles

Background

Migration to another country has a potential influence on breastfeeding practices. A significant difference in breastfeeding rates between Irish nationals and non-nationals has been reported. This study was conducted to explore breastfeeding practices of the Chinese in Ireland, one of the largest Irish ethnic groups, and to explore the influence of living in Ireland on breastfeeding practices. This is the first and the only migration study so far on breastfeeding practices among the Chinese in Ireland.

Methods

A sequential explanatory mixed methods approach was adopted. The first phase was a cross-sectional self-administered retrospective mailed survey, to explore breastfeeding practices …

The Prevalence Of Overweight And Obesity In Irish Children Between 1990 And 2019, Aisling O'Donnell, Maria Buffini, Laura Kehoe, Ann Nugent, John Kearney, Janette Walton, Albert Flynn, Breige Mcnulty

Articles

Objective: The present study aimed to examine the temporal prevalence of overweight and obesity in Irish children through different methodologies and evaluate the change in rates between 1990 and 2019.

Cost-Effectiveness Of A Mobile Health-Supported Lifestyle Intervention For Pregnant Women With An Elevated Body Mass Index, Elizabeth O'Sullivan, Salwa Rokicki, Maria Kennelly, Kate Ainscough, Fionnuala M. Mcauliffe

Articles

Objective To assess the cost-effectiveness of a mobile health-supported lifestyle intervention compared with usual care.

Methods We conducted a cost-effectiveness analysis from the perspective of the publicly-funded health care system. We estimated costs associated with the intervention and health care utilisation from first antenatal care appointment through delivery. We used bootstrap methods to quantify the uncertainty around cost‐effectiveness estimates. Health outcomes assessed in this analysis were gestational weight gain (GWG; kg), incidence of excessive GWG, quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), and incidence of large-for-gestational-age (LGA). Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) were calculated as cost per QALY gained, cost per kg of GWG …

Beyond The Belloni Decision: Sohappy V. Smith And The Modern Era Of Tribal Treaty Rights, Monte Mills

Articles

Indian tribes and their members are leading a revived political, legal, and social movement to protect the nation’s natural resources. In doing so, tribes and their allies employ many effective strategies but core to the movement are the historic promises made to tribes by the United States through treaties. Tribes are asserting treaty-protected rights, which the United States Constitution upholds as the supreme law of the land, to defend the resources on which they and their ancestors have relied for generations. Those claims have resulted in significant legal victories, igniting a broader movement in favor of tribal sovereignty and securing …

Resolving Tensions Between Disability Rights Law And Covid-19 Mask Policies, Elizabeth Pendo, Robert Gatter, Seema Mohapatra

Articles

As states reopen, an increasing number of state and local officials are requiring people to wear face masks while out of the home. Grocery stores, retail outlets, restaurants, and other businesses are also announcing their own mask policies, which may differ from public policies. Public health measures to stop the spread of the coronavirus such as wearing masks have the potential to greatly benefit millions of Americans with disabilities, who are particularly vulnerable to the impact of COVID-19. But certain disabilities may make it difficult or inadvisable to wear a mask.

Mask-wearing has become a political flashpoint, putting people with …

Law Students And Cell Phone Use: Results Of A Six-School Survey, Hugh D. Spitzer, Robert M. Jarvis, Cindy I.T. Archer, Linda Galler, Jodi L. Wilson, Mark E. Wojcik

Articles

The sight of a law student using his or her cell phone now is so common that law professors do not give it a second thought. But what, exactly, is the student doing? Texting with friends? Shopping? Watching a movie? To try to find out, during the Fall 2019 semester we asked our six diverse law schools to take an online survey consisting of eighteen questions. To our knowledge, this is the first phone survey of law students.

This paper presents the results of the survey, exploring applications used (text, social media, email, etc.) and differences by audience (e.g., whether …