Digital Commons Network^™

Biovr: A Platform For Virtual Reality Assisted Biological Data Integration And Visualization, Jimmy F. Zhang, Alex R. Paciorkowski, Paul A. Craig, Feng Cui

Articles

Background: Functional characterization of single nucleotide variants (SNVs) involves two steps, the first step is to convert DNA to protein and the second step is to visualize protein sequences with their structures. As massively parallel sequencing has emerged as a leading technology in genomics, resulting in a significant increase in data volume, direct visualization of SNVs together with associated protein sequences/structures in a new user interface (UI) would be a more effective way to assess their potential effects on protein function. Results: We have developed BioVR, an easy-to-use interactive, virtual reality (VR)-assisted platform for integrated visual analysis of DNA/RNA/protein sequences …

‘Some Foods Are Considered Aphrodisiac Because They Resemble Sexual Organs’: On Isabel Allende’S Aphrodite, Anke Klitzing

Articles

At the age of 56, well into her second marriage and a grandmother herself, novelist Isabel Allende decided to find out whether aphrodisiacs are all they are made out to be. She wrote Aphrodite: The Love of Food and Food of Love after extensive research into erotic literature across some centuries and continents, and this foundation of age-old wisdom also means that the book, while published in 1998, remains a timeless source of inspiration and enjoyment.

Comparison Of Heparg Cells Following Growth In Proliferative And Differentiated Culture Conditions Reveals Distinct Bioenergetic Profiles., Carolyn K J Young, Matthew J Young

Articles

HepaRG is a proliferative human hepatoma-derived cell line that can be differentiated into hepatocyte-like and biliary-like cells. Differentiated HepaRG cultures maintain key hepatic functions including drug transporters and xenobiotic-metabolizing enzymes. To gain insight into proliferative and differentiated HepaRG metabolism we profiled various bioenergetic parameters and investigated cell culture levels of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), lactate, and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity. Compared to differentiated-derived HepaRG, cells from proliferative cultures had increased basal and ATP-linked respiration and decreased maximal and spare respiratory capacities. Basal ATP levels but not lactate or LDH activity were increased in samples from proliferative-derived compared to differentiated-derived HepaRG. Further …

When Literature Scholars Write For General Readers: A Two Person, First Person Essay, Sue Norton, Laurence W. Mazzeno Prof.

Articles

This dually authored first-person essay offers a narrative account of the far-ranging writing experiences of two well-established academics who, like many others working in higher education, contribute writing to mainstream publications as well as to scholarly ones. The essay considers the implications for professional and personal reputations when material targeted at one kind of audience is easily accessible by another through internet ‘context collapse.’ It argues for an inextricable connection between authorial ethics and the essential rigour of all good writing, and it encourages scholar-writers to invest their energies in nonscholarly writing for its value to society.

Genome Reorganization Of The Gmshmt Gene Family In Soybean Showed A Lack Of Functional Redundancy In Resistance To Soybean Cyst Nematode, Naoufal Lakhssassi, Zhou Zhou, Azam Baharlouei, My Abdelmajid Kassem, David A. Lightfoot, Abdelali Barakat, Khalid Meksem

Articles

In soybeans, eighteen members constitute the serine hydroxymethyltransferase (GmSHMT) gene family, of which the cytosolic-targeted GmSHMT08c member has been reported to mediate resistance to soybean cyst nematode (SCN). This work presents a comprehensive study of the SHMT gene family members, including synteny, phylogeny, subcellular localizations, haplotypes, protein homology modeling, mutational, and expression analyses. Phylogenetic analysis showed that SHMT genes are divided into four classes refecting their subcellular distribution (cytosol, nucleus, mitochondrion, and chloroplast). Subcellular localization of selected GmSHMT members supports their in-silico predictions and phylogenetic distribution. Expression and functional analyses showed that GmSHMT genes display many overlapping, but some divergent …

Single Photon Transfer Using Levitated Cavityless Optomechanics, Pardeep Kumar, Mishkatul Bhattacharya

Articles

We theoretically explore a quantum memory using a single nanoparticle levitated in an optical dipole trap and subjected to feedback cooling. This protocol is realized by storing and retrieving a single-photon quantum state from a mechanical mode in levitated cavityless optomechanics. We describe the effectiveness of the photon-phonon-photon transfer in terms of the fidelity, the Wigner function, and the zero-delay secondorder autocorrelation function. For experimentally accessible parameters, our numerical results indicate robust conversion of the quantum states of the input signal photon to those of the retrieved photon. We also show that high fidelity single-photon wavelength conversion is possible in …

Using Cognitive Mapping To Longitudinally Examine Political Brand Associations, Ewan Macdonald, Roger Sherlock, John Hogan

Articles

This paper uses cognitive mapping techniques to understand how brand associations, an important aspect of political brand equity are formed, differ, and change, from the perspective of citizens, across the four largest Irish political parties between 2013 and 2016. The paper focuses in particular upon the strength, favourability and uniqueness of these brand associations. The results constitute a first attempt to longitudinally explore changing political brand associations through cognitive mapping techniques, using data generated with the participation of hundreds of citizens. Our findings suggest that this approach can contribute to our understanding of how and why political brand associations change …

Discussion: Effect Of Bentonite Slurry Pressure On Interface Friction Of Pipe Jacking, Ciaran Reilly, Trevor Orr

Articles

Pipe jacking is a technique used to construct tunnels by pushing prefabricated pipes through the ground from an entrance shaft to an exit shaft. This technique is referred as microtunneling in U.S. terminology, therefore, in the rest of the text, pipejacking and microtunneling will be used as having the same meaning. Pipe jacking is a more economical alternative to segmental lined tunnels. However, the main limitation of pipe jacking is the jacking distance, which is directly dependent on the friction between the pipe and the soil. Therefore, reducing the friction between the pipe and soil is a critical issue in …

Surveying The Scene: How Representatives’ Views Informed A New Era In Irish Workplace Dispute Resolution, Brian Barry

Articles

The Workplace Relations Act 2015 introduced a major overhaul of workplace dispute resolution bodies in Ireland, streamlining a complicated system for resolving workplace disputes comprising multiple fora into a two-tier structure. The article describes and analyses the results of two surveys undertaken by the author of the views of employment law and industrial relations practitioners and other representatives in Ireland before the reforms in 2011 and after the reforms in 2016. This article describes the purpose, methodology and considers the results of both surveys. The 2011 survey informed the agenda for reforming the Irish workplace dispute resolution system in 2015. …

Constitutional Liquidation, William Baude

Articles

No abstract provided.

The Games They Will Play: Tax Games, Roadblocks, And Glitches Under The 2017 Tax Legislation, David Kamin, David Gamage, Ari Glowgower, Rebecca Kysar, Darien Shanske

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No abstract provided.

#Thisisirishfood - The Flavour Of Ireland's West Coast, Anke Klitzing

Articles

In the West of Ireland, a new awareness for quality ingredients and indigenous flavours are drawing out the potential of local produce and craftsmanship.

Good Sentences, Patrick Barry

Articles

To write good sentences, you need to read good sentences. Skilled writers and editors know this, so they seek out good sentences wherever they can find them—the short stories of Alice Munro, the political essays of William F. Buckley, even well-crafted cartoons, speeches, and advertisements. They read not just with voracity but also with an eye toward larceny, always on the lookout for moves that they can learn and repurpose.

Reckless Juveniles, Kimberly Thomas

Articles

Modern doctrine and scholarship largely take it for granted that offenders should be criminally punished for reckless acts.1 Yet, developments in our understanding of human behavior can shed light on how we define and attribute criminal liability, or at least force us to grapple with the categories that have existed for so long. This Article examines recklessness and related doctrines in light of the shifts in understanding of adolescent behavior and its biological roots, to see what insights we might attain, or what challenges these understandings pose to this foundational mens rea doctrine. Over the past decade, the U.S. Supreme …

Blockchain-Based Token Sales, Initial Coin Offerings, And The Democratization Of Public Capital Markets, Jonathan Rohr, Aaron Wright

Articles

Best known for their role in the creation of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, blockchains are revolutionizing the way technology entrepreneurs finance their business enterprises. In 2017 alone, tech entrepreneurs raised over $6 billion through the sale of blockchain-based digital tokens, with some sales lasting mere seconds before selling out. In a token sale, also referred to as an “initial coin offering” or “ICO,” organizers of a project sell digital tokens to members of the public to finance the development of new technological platforms and services. After the initial sale, cryptocurrency exchanges scattered across the globe list tokens for trading and facilitate …

Use Of Novel Anthropomorphic Breast Ultrasound Phantoms For Radiology Resident Education, Jacinta Browne, Chris Gu, Robert Fazzio, Andrew J. Fagan, Donald Tradup, Nicholas Hangiandreou

Articles

Purpose: This study evaluated the training and assessment role of anthropomorphic breast ultrasound phantoms which simulated both the morphological and sonographic characteristics of breast tissue, including lesions, in a group of radiology residents at a large academic medical center. Methods: This was a prospective study involving 9 residents across all years (2^nd–4^th year) of a radiology residency program. Baseline assessments of all residents ability to detect and characterize lesions in P-I were carried out, followed by a two-hour teaching session on the same phantom. All residents underwent a post-training, final assessment on P-II to evaluate changes in …

Level Of Service And The Transit Neighbourhood: Observations From Dublin City And Surburbs, David O'Connor, Brian Caulfield

Articles

Few studies have looked at the impact Level-of-Service (LOS) might have on the distances people walk to public transport. The relationship, if any, has implications for transit-oriented-development and the viability of different transit modes serving suburban areas. This paper examines pedestrian catchment areas and LOS across a light rail, a metro rail and two bus corridors in Dublin. Public transport users have been surveyed at 17 stops around the city and their trip origin identified. Catchment areas for bus services with high levels of service were found to be comparable and often greater than those for LRT or metro …

A Close-Up Look At Pcr, Callie J. Donahue, Ashley A. Adair, Leslie Kate Wright, Dina Newman

Articles

The Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) is a fundamental laboratory technique that allows for the amplification of many copies of a desired DNA target sequence. Despite its prevalence, undergraduate students often have poor comprehension about the underlying molecular mechanisms of PCR and the components necessary to carry out the reaction. We designed an interactive modeling activity to help students visualize the underlying molecular processes of denaturation, annealing, and extension, and to see how PCR parallels in vivo DNA replication. During the activity, students mimic denaturation, annealing, and extension by synthesizing DNA strands from individual nucleotides and primers in the 5’ to …

18 U.S.C. § 3553(A)'S Undervalued Sentencing Command: Providing A Federal Criminal Defendant With Rehabilitation, Training, And Treatment In"“The Most Effective Manner", Erica Zunkel

Articles

No abstract provided.

The Critical Juncture Concept’S Evolving Capacity To Explain Policy Change, John Hogan

Articles

This article examines the evolution of our understanding of the critical junctures concept. The concept finds its origins in historical intuitionalism, being employed in the context of path dependence to account for sudden and jarring institutional or policy changes. We argue that the concept and the literature surrounding it—now incorporating ideas, discourse, and agency—have gradually become more comprehensive and nuanced as historical institutionalism was followed by ideational historical institutionalism and constructivist and discursive institutionalism. The prime position of contingency has been supplanted by the role of ideas and agency in explaining critical junctures and other instances of less than transformative …

Innovation Policy Pluralism, Daniel Hemel, Lisa Larrimore Ouellette

Articles

No abstract provided.

Could The Pope's Call To End The Death Penalty Keep Catholics Off Juries?, Aliza Plener Cover

Articles

No abstract provided.

Combination Of Gold Nanoparticles With Low-Let Irradiation: An Approach To Enhance Dna Dsb Induction In Ht29 Colorectal Cancer Stem-Like Cells, Mahdi Abbasian, Zahra Arab-Bafrani, Azam Baharlouei, David Lightfoot

Articles

Purpose

High-linear energy transfer (high LET) irradiation has significant cytotoxic effects on different cancerous stem-like cells (CSLCs) such as colorectal CSLCs. A review of the literature has indicated that the presence of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) enables low-LET irradiation to produce highly non-homogeneous dose distributions like high-LET irradiation. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the radioresponsiveness of HT29 colorectal CSLCs under low-LET irradiation (X-ray) and in the presence of GNPs.

Methods

Radioresponsiveness was evaluated using the ϒ-H2AX foci formation assay, the clonogenic assay, the cell cycle progression assay and analyses of radiobiological parameters.

Results

In the presence of GNPs, …

A Framework For Evaluating Model-Driven Self-Adaptive Software Systems, Basel Magableh

Articles

In the last few years, Model Driven Development (MDD), Component-based Software Development (CBSD), and context-oriented software have become interesting alternatives for the design and construction of self-adaptive software systems. In general, the ultimate goal of these technologies is to be able to reduce development costs and effort, while improving the modularity, flexibility, adaptability, and reliability of software systems. An analysis of these technologies shows them all to include the principle of the separation of concerns, and their further integration is a key factor to obtaining high-quality and self-adaptable software systems. Each technology identifies different concerns and deals with them separately …

A Deep Recurrent Q Network Towards Self-Adapting Distributed Microservices Architecture (In Press), Basel Magableh

Articles

One desired aspect of microservices architecture is the ability to self-adapt its own architecture and behaviour in response to changes in the operational environment. To achieve the desired high levels of self-adaptability, this research implements the distributed microservices architectures model, as informed by the MAPE-K model. The proposed architecture employs a multi adaptation agents supported by a centralised controller, that can observe the environment and execute a suitable adaptation action. The adaptation planning is managed by a deep recurrent Q-network (DRQN). It is argued that such integration between DRQN and MDP agents in a MAPE-K model offers distributed microservice architecture …

Transferability: Helping Students And Attorneys Apply What They Already Know To New Situations (Part 1), Edward R. Becker

Articles

Every fall, I work with my first year law students to begin developing their legal writing skills. They work hard learning how to analyze cases objectively, predict how a court might resolve a dispute, and convey their assessments to an experienced attorney. Their improvement from September to December is noticeable. They have only one semester of law school behind them and still have much to learn, but they’re on their way…In the second semester, we begin focusing on advocacy. The first assignment asks students to draft a pretrial brief. When I review the drafts, I’m struck by how many problems …

How Religion Shaped Ireland's Cultural Heritage, Eamon Maher

Articles

No abstract provided.

Influence Of Sample Mixing Techniques On Engine Oil Contamination Analysis By Infrared Spectroscopy, Torrey Holland, Ali Mazin Abdul-Munaim, Dennis G. Watson, Poopalasingham Sivakumar

Articles

For the most reliable and reproducible results for calibration or general testing purposes of two immiscible liquids, such as water in engine oil, good emulsification is vital. This study explores the impact of emulsion quality on the Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy calibration standards for measuring water contamination in used or in-service engine oil, in an attempt to strengthen the specific guidelines of ASTM International standards for sample preparation. By using different emulsification techniques and readily available laboratory equipment, this work is an attempt to establish the ideal sample preparation technique for reliability, repeatability, and reproducibility for FT-IR analysis while …

Context Oriented Software Middleware, Basel Magableh

Articles

This article proposes a new paradigm for building an adaptive middleware that supports software systems with self-adaptability and dependability. In this article, we wish to explore how far we can support the engineering of self- adaptive applications using a generic and platform-independent middleware architecture provided by non-specialised programming languages such as Context-Oriented Programming (COP), and Aspect-Oriented Programming (AOP), and not limited to a specific platform or framework. This gives the software developers the flexibility to construct a self-adaptive application using a generic and reusable middleware components that employ popular design patterns, instead of forcing the software developers to use a …

Deep Q Learning For Self Adaptive Distributed Microservices Architecture (In Press), Basel Magableh

Articles

One desired aspect of a self-adapting microservices architecture is the ability to continuously monitor the operational environment, detect and observe anomalous behavior, and provide a reasonable policy for self-scaling, self-healing, and self-tuning the computational resources in order to dynamically respond to a sudden change in its operational environment. The behaviour of a microservices architecture is continuously changing overtime, which makes it a challenging task to use a statistical model to identify both the normal and abnormal behaviour of the services running. The performance of the microservices cluster could fluctuate around the demand to accommodate scalability, orchestration and load balancing demands. …