Digital Commons Network^™

Rapid Assessment Of Refractive Error, Presbyopia, And Visual Impairment And Associated Quality Of Life In Nampula, Mozambique, James Loughman, Lindelwa Nxele, Cesar Faria, Stephen Thompson, Prasidh Ramson, Farai Chinanyi, Kovin S. Naidoo

Articles

Introduction: Uncorrected refractive error is the leading cause of visual impairment worldwide and leads to an impaired quality of life. This study was designed to determine the prevalence of uncorrected refractive error and presbyopia, to assess spectacle coverage, and to evaluate visual health-related quality of life among persons aged 15–50 years old in Nampula, Mozambique.

Methods: Participants were assessed using a validated rapid assessment of refractive error protocol, comprised of a demographic questionnaire, a standardized ophthalmic assessment to determine refractive status and spectacle coverage, and a modified vision-related quality of life questionnaire to assess the impact of uncorrected refractive error …

Visual Function And Its Relationship With Severity Of Early, And Activity Of Neovascular, Age-Related Macular Degeneration, James Loughman, Sarah Sabour-Pickett, John M. Nolan, Barbara Klein, Ron Klein, Stephen Beatty

Articles

Purpose: To investigate the relationship between visual function and severity of early age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and activity of neovascular (nv-) AMD.

Methods: The following data was collected from 66 eyes of 66 subjects with early AMD and 47 eyes of 47 subjects with active nv-AMD: corrected distance visual acuity (CDVA); contrast sensitivity (CS); glare disability (GD); and retinotopic ocular sensitivity (ROS) of the central 5° of the retina, by microperimetry. Fundus photographic grading of early AMD was performed in a masked fashion. Mean foveal thickness (MFT) was measured by spectral domain optical coherence tomography in patients with nv-AMD.

Results: …

Recruitment And Selection Strategies In Optometric Education Towards Addressing Human Resource Disparities In Sub-Saharan Africa, Vanessa Moodley, James Loughman, Kovin S. Naidoo

Articles

The dire need for eye care services and a dearth of human resources (HR) in sub-Saharan Africa motivated the setting up of new optometry programmes. However, to make a meaningful impact, geographical, gender, economic and educational disparities must additionally be addressed. A qualitative study utilizing purposive sampling to select academic leadership and students from optometry programmes in sub-Saharan Africa was conducted. Individual and focus group interviews produced data that were coded and analysed using a deductive thematic analysis approach. The themes that emerged as contributing to disparities in access through recruitment and selection were institutional barriers (student intake numbers, programme …

Dual Targeted Immunotherapy Via In Vivo Delivery Of Bio-Hybrid Rnai-Peptide Nanoparticles To Tumour-Associated Macrophages And Cancer Cells, Joao Conde, Chenchen Bao, Yeqi Tan, Daxiang Cui, Elazier Edelman, Helena Azevedo, Hugh Byrne, Natalie Artzi, Furong Tian

Articles

Lung cancer is associated with very poor prognosis and considered one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Here, we present highly potent and selective bio-hybrid RNAi-peptide nanoparticles that can induce specific and long-lasting gene therapy in inflammatory tumour associated macrophages (TAMs), via an immune modulation of the tumour milieu combined with tumour suppressor effects. Our data prove that passive gene silencing can be achieved in cancer cells using regular RNAi NPs. When combined with M2 peptide-based targeted immunotherapy that immuno-modulates TAMs cell-population, a synergistic effect and long-lived tumour eradication can be observed along with increased mice survival. Treatment with …

Functional Conservation Of An Ancestral Pellino Protein In Helminth Species, Christopher Cluxton, Brian Caffrey, Gemma Kinsella, Paul Moynagh, Mario Fares, Padraic Fallon

Articles

The immune system of H. sapiens has innate signaling pathways that arose in ancestral species. This is exemplified by the discovery of the Toll-like receptor (TLR) pathway using free-living model organisms such as Drosophila melanogaster. The TLR pathway is ubiquitous and controls sensitivity to pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) in eukaryotes. There is, however, a marked absence of this pathway from the plathyhelminthes, with the exception of the Pellino protein family, which is present in a number of species from this phylum. Helminth Pellino proteins are conserved having high similarity, both at the sequence and predicted structural protein level, with that …

The Contribution Of Non-Thermal And Advanced Oxidation Technologies Towards Dissipation Of Pesticide Residues, N. Misra

Articles

Background

The use of pesticides has stabilised the food production to a great extent and their usage cannot be avoided anymore. Nevertheless, common food processing operations always allowed dissipating pesticide residues in foods to some extent. Within the food science community and the food processing sector, non-thermal food technologies are being researched and commercialised at a great pace over the past three decades.

Scope and Approach

In this review we provide a critical analysis of the literature pertinent to the fate of pesticide residues during non-thermal processing of solid and liquid foods. We also identify the opportunities for further development …

Mechanism Of Inactivation By High Voltage Atmospheric Cold Plasma Differs Between Escherichia Coli And Staphylococcus Aureus, Lu Han, Sonal Patil, Daniela Boehm, Vladimir Milosavljević, Patrick J. Cullen, Paula Bourke

Articles

Atmospheric cold plasma (ACP) is a promising non-thermal technology effective against a wide range of pathogenic microorganisms. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) play a crucial inactivation role when air or other oxygen containing gases are used. With strong oxidative stress, cells can be damaged by lipid peroxidation, enzyme inactivation and DNA cleavage. Identifying ROS and understanding their role is important to advance ACP applications to a range of complex microbiological issues. In this study, the inactivation efficacy of in-package, high voltage (80 kV_RMS) ACP (HVACP) and the role of intracellular ROS were investigated. Two mechanisms of inactivation were observed …

Computational Development Of Selective Nnos Inhibitors: Binding Modes And Pharmacokinetic Considerations, Adam Curtin, Gemma K. Kinsella, John Stephens

Articles

Abstract: Neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) produces the key signalling mediator nitric oxide, (NO). This gaseous, free radical molecule modulates a vast array of biological processes, from vascular pressure to immune responses and neurological signalling cascades. Overproduction of NO has been implicated in conditions including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and schizophrenia. Inhibition of nNOS therefore offers a potential therapeutic approach for treatment of these conditions. This endeavour is made more complex by the fact that there are two other isoforms of nitric oxide synthase (NOS), endothelial NOS (eNOS) and inducible NOS (iNOS). The selectivity of nNOS inhibitors is therefore a …

Development Of A Methodology For Assessing Safety & Operational Reporting Within Safety Critical Industries, Maria Chiara Leva, Ewan Douglas, Sam Cromie

Articles

Develop a best-practice model based on literature and industrial experience

• Industrial Case Studies to allow a cross industrial comparison

• Develop a suite of techniques that can be used cross-industry to assess the effectiveness of a reporting system

• Propose a theoretical framework for the effective implementation of risk and hazard reporting as an input for safety management

A Mathematical Model Of Meat Cooking Based On Polymer-Solvent Analogy, M. Chapwanya, Nissreen Misra

Articles

Mathematical modelling of transport phenomena in food processes is vital to understand the process dynamics. In this work, we study the process of double sided cooking of meat by developing a mathematical model for the simultaneous heat and mass transfer. The constitutive equations for the heat and mass transport are based on Fourier conduction, and the Flory–Huggins theory respectively, formulated for a two-phase transport inside a porous medium. We investigate a reduced one-dimensional case to verify the model, by applying appropriate boundary conditions. The results of the simulation agree well with experimental findings reported in literature. Finally, we comment upon …

On The Dynamics Of Internal Waves Interacting With The Equatorial Undercurrent, Alan Compelli, Rossen Ivanov

Articles

The interaction of the nonlinear internal waves with a nonuniform current with a specific form, characteristic for the equatorial undercurrent, is studied. The current has no vorticity in the layer, where the internal wave motion takes place. We show that the nonzero vorticity that might be occuring in other layers of the current does not affect the wave motion. The equations of motion are formulated as a Hamiltonian system.

Hamiltonian Approach To Internal Wave-Current Interactions In A Two-Media Fluid With A Rigid Lid, Alan Compelli, Rossen Ivanov

Articles

We examine a two-media 2-dimensional fluid system consisting of a lower medium bounded underneath by a flatbed and an upper medium with a free surface with wind generated surface waves but considered bounded above by a lid by an assumption that surface waves have negligible amplitude. An internal wave driven by gravity which propagates in the positive x-direction acts as a free common interface between the media. The current is such that it is zero at the flatbed but a negative constant, due to an assumption that surface winds blow in the negative x-direction, at the lid. We are concerned …

Identification Of Key Proteins In Human Epithelial Cells Responding To Bystander Signals From Irradiated Trout Skin, Hayley Furlong, Richard Smith, Jiaxi Wang, Colin Seymour, Carmel Mothersill, Orla L. Howe

Articles

Radiation-induced bystander signaling has been found to occur in live rainbow trout fish (Oncorhynchus mykiss). This article reports identification of key proteomic changes in a bystander reporter cell line (HaCaT) grown in low-dose irradiated tissue-conditioned media (ITCM) from rainbow trout fish. In vitro explant cultures were generated from the skin of fish previously exposed to low doses (0.1 and 0.5 Gy) of X-ray radiation in vivo. The ITCM was harvested from all donor explant cultures and placed on recipient HaCaT cells to observe any change in protein expression caused by the bystander signals. Proteomic methods using 2-dimensional (2D) gel electrophoresis …

A Printed Triangular Monopole With Wideband Circular Polarization, Afshin Panahi, Xiulong Bao, Giuseppe Ruvio, Max Ammann

Articles

A printed triangular monopole antenna with wideband circular polarization is presented. The wideband circular polarization is achieved by asymmetrical excitation of a triangular ground plane and planar triangular monopole. The combined radiation provides a wide axial-ratio bandwidth spanning from 1.42 to 2.7 GHz (62%). A parametric study of key geometric parameters is given for clear understanding of the radiation mechanism.

Using Sequential Mixed Methods In Enterprise Policy Evaluation. Special Mixed Methods Edition., Anthony Paul Buckley

Articles

How might policy instruments contribute to indigenous firm growth and how can the effects of these instruments be evaluated at both firm and policy level? This paper illustrates how a mixed methods research design and data analysis strategy can pragmatically address the research questions outlined above. The advantages and challenges of employing quantitative research methods (what happened?) followed by confirmatory qualitative research methods (how and why did it happen?) in a multiphase sequential explanatory design is explored. The data analysis strategy is firstly to analyse the data generated from a ‘before and after’ quasi-experiment (with statistical controls), then data from …

Disambiguating Company Names In Microblog Text Using Clustering For Online Reputation Management, Fernando Perez-Tellez, John Cardiff, Paolo Rosso, David Pinto

Articles

Twitter is used by millions of users to publish brief messages (tweets) with the purpose of sharing experiences and/or opinions about a product or service. There is a clear need for systems that can mine these messages in order to derive information about the collective thinking of twitterers (e.g. for opinion or sentiment analysis). Tweet analysis is a very important task because comments, opinions, suggestions, complaints etc. can be used for marketing strategies or for determining information on a company’s reputation. For this purpose, it is necessary to automatically establish whether a tweet refers to a company or not, when …

The Tyrosine Kinase Bcef And The Phosphotyrosine Phosphatase Bced Of Burkholderia Contaminans Are Required For Efficient Invasion And Epithelial Disruption Of A Cystic Fibrosis Lung Epithelial Cell Line, Ana S. Ferreira, Ines N. Silva, Fabio Fernandes, Ruth Pilkington, Máire Callaghan, Siobhán Mcclean, Leonilde M. Moreira

Articles

Bacterial tyrosine kinases and their cognate protein tyrosine phosphatases are best known for regulating the biosynthesis of polysaccharides. Moreover, their roles in the stress response, DNA metabolism, cell division, and virulence have also been documented. The aim of this study was to investigate the pathogenicity and potential mechanisms of virulence dependent on the tyrosine kinase BceF and phosphotyrosine phosphatase BceD of the cystic fibrosis opportunistic pathogen Burkholderia contaminans IST408. The insertion mutants bceD::Tp and bceF::Tp showed similar attenuation of adhesion and invasion of the cystic fibrosis lung epithelial cell line CFBE41o- compared to the parental strain B. contaminans …

Binding Of Dna By A Dinitro-Diester Calix[4]Arene: Denaturation And Condensation Of Dna, Mary Deasy, Pilar Lopez-Cornejo, F J. Ostos, J A. Lebron, M L. Moya

Articles

A study of a dinitro-diester calix[4]arene (5,17-(3-nitrobenzylideneamino)-11,23-di-tert-butyl- 25,27-diethoxycarbonyl methyleneoxy-26,28-dihydroxycalix[4]arene) interaction with calf-thymus DNA was carried out using several techniques. The measurements were done at various molar ratios X=[calixarene]/[DNA]. Results show diverse changes in the DNA conformation depending on the X value. Thus, at low macrocycle concentration, the calixarene binds to the polynucleotide. This interaction, mainly in groove mode, weakens the hydrogen bonds between the base pairs of the helix inducing the denaturation of the double strands, as well as the condensation of the macromolecule, from an extended coil state to a globular state. An opposite effect is observed …

A System Dynamics View Of The Acute Bed Blockage Problem In The Irish Healthcare System, Waleed Abo Hamad, Wael Rashwan, Amr Arisha

Articles

Global population ageing is creating immense pressures on hospitals and other healthcare services, compromising their abilities to meet the growing demand from elderly patients. Current demand–supply gaps result in prolonged waiting times in emergency departments (EDs), and several studies have focused on improving ED performance. However, the overcrowding in EDs generally stems from delayed patient flows to inpatient wards – which are congested with inpatients waiting for beds in post-acute facilities. This problem of bed blocking in acute hospitals causes substantial cost burdens on hospitals. This study presents a system dynamics methodology to model the dynamic flow of elderly patients …

Visqolaudio: An Objective Audio Quality Metric For Low Bitrate Codecs, Andrew Hines, Eoin Gillen, Damien Kelly, Jan Skoglund, Anil Kokaram, Naomi Harte

Articles

Streaming services seek to optimise their use of bandwidth across audio and visual channels to maximise the quality of experience for users. This letter evaluates whether objective quality metrics can predict the audio quality for music encoded at low bitrates by comparing objective predictions with results from listener tests. Three objective metrics were benchmarked: PEAQ, POLQA, and VISQOLAudio. The results demonstrate objective metrics designed for speech quality assessment have a strong potential for quality assessment of low bitrate audio codecs.

An Analysis Of The Impact Of Playout Delay Adjustments Introduced By Voip Jitter Buffers On Listening Speech Quality, Peter Počta, Hugh Melvin, Andrew Hines

Articles

This paper investigates the impact of frequent and small playout delay adjustments (time-shifting) of 30 ms or less introduced to silence periods by Voice over IP (VoIP) jitter buffer strategies on listening quality perceived by the end user. In particular, the quality impact is assessed using both a subjective method (quality scores obtained from subjective listening test) and an objective method based on perceptual modelling. Two different objective methods are used, PESQ (Perceptual Evaluation of Speech Quality, ITU-T Recommendation P.862) and POLQA (Perceptual Objective Listening Quality Assessment, ITU-T Recommendation P.863). Moreover, the relative accuracy of both objective models is assessed …

Breast-Feeding And Postpartum Maternal Weight Trajectories, Laura Mullaney, Amy O'Higgins, Shona Cawley, Rachel Kennedy, Daniel Mccartney, Michael J. Turner

Articles

We examined whether breast-feeding, and in particular exclusive breast-feeding, was associated with maternal weight and body composition changes at 4 months postpartum independently of other maternal variables.

Contactless Measurement Of Angular Velocity Using Circularly Polarized Antennas, Vit Sipal, Adam Narbudowicz, Max Ammann

Articles

An innovative method to measure the angular velocity using circularly polarized antennas is proposed. Due to the properties of circular polarization, the angular velocity is frequency modulated (FM) on a wireless carrier. This enables a low-cost precise continuous measurement of angular velocity using a standard FM demodulator. The hardware can be easily adapted for both high and low angular velocity values. The precise alignment angle between the antennas can be determined if the initial antenna orientation is known. The angular error is shown to be

Mead As (Mostly) Moot: Predictive Interpretation In Administrative Law, Ryan D. Doerfler

Articles

In National Cable & Telecommunications Ass’n v. Brand X Internet Services, the Supreme Court explained that, within the domain of unclear agency-administered statutes, a federal court is subordinate to an administering agency. When an administering agency

Developing A New Urban Quarter At Grangegorman, Dublin: The Role Of Planning In Its Successful Delivery, Terry Prendergast

Articles

This paper discussed the role of urban planning in achieving successful urban regeneration. It focuses on a specific regeneration project in Dublin’s inner city, the Grangegorman development, which relocates, on a phased basis, the Technological University Dublin’s c.40 buildings on dispersed sites within Dublin City to a single 29 hectare site. The development also provides health facilities for the Health Service Executive, in addition to community and recreational uses and commercial development. Urban planning has played a critical role in the delivery of the project and in securing Government support and funding. This paper describes the importance of project vision, …

Impact Of Hub Location On The Performance Of Wireless Body Area Networks For Fitness Applications, Vit Sipal, Domenico Gaetano, Patrick Mcevoy, Max Ammann

Articles

This letter compares the propagation properties of Wireless Body Area Networks for three different locations (head, foot and waist) of the hub/internet gateway on the human body. The wireless channels between the hubs and four nodes (chest, back, and upper arms) are measured on a female and a male subject performing push-ups and squats. A framework using spider plots is used for cumulative performance description. The results show that the best overall performance is for hub located on the left temple and the worst overall performance is achieved for a hub on the waist. These results are expected to stimulate …

Are We Planning For Sea Level Rise In Ireland? A Case Study Of Counties Mayo, Galway, Sligo And Donegal., Paul J. Lawlor

Articles

Sea level rise (SLR) caused by climate change poses major challenges on a global, national, regional and local level. This paper examines the phenomenon of SLR and considers its likely impacts on the coastline and adjacent marine areas in the Republic of Ireland. As significant impacts are regarded as probable, an analysis is undertaken of the legislative support and the guidance available for dealing with the effects of SLR. Using the case studies of counties Galway, Mayo, Sligo and Donegal in the west and north west of Ireland, all of which have been identified as being vulnerable to the effects …

Diffractive Optical Elements With A Large Angle Of Operation Recorded In Acrylamide Based Photopolymer On Flexible Substrates, Hoda Akbari, Izabela Naydenova, Lina Persechini, Sean Garner, Pat Cimo, Suzanne Martin

Articles

A holographic device characterised by a large angular range of operation is under development. The aim of this study is to increase the angular working range of the diffractive lens by stacking three layers of high efficiency optical elements on top of each other so that light is collected (and focussed) from a broader range of angles. The angular range of each individual lens element is important, and work has already been done in an acrylamide-based photosensitive polymer to broaden the angular range of individual elements using holographic recording at a low spatial frequency.This paper reports new results on the …

Antimicrobial Properties Of Nano-Silver: A Cautionary Approach To Ionic Interference, Kate Sheehy, Alan Casey, Anna Murphy, Gordon Chambers

Articles

Hypothesis: Metallic nanoparticles such as nano-silver have found many applications as alternative antimicrobials in recent years. However methods for determining their proposed antimicrobial activity have received little attention to date. The disk diffusion assay is commonly used as a demonstration of antimicrobial properties and is a regular feature in synthetic nanoparticle papers. The aim of this study was to assess its effectiveness in demonstrating the ‘‘nanoparticle specific’’ antimicrobial properties in the absence of ionic contributions from unreacted reducing agents and or impurities. Experiments: The disk diffusion assay was carried out on a range of silver nanoparticles, both in-house synthesised and …

Process Simulation Of Biomass Gasification Integrated With A Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Stack, Wayne Doherty, Anthony Reynolds, David Kennedy

Articles

Biomass gasification-solid oxide fuel cell (BG-SOFC) combined heat and power (CHP) systems are of major interest in the context of climate change mitigation, energy security and increasing energy efficiency. Aspen Plus is employed to simulate various BG-SOFC CHP systems. The aim of the research work is to investigate the technical feasibility of these systems and to study the influence of important operating parameters and examine integration options. Systems based on dual fluidised bed steam gasification and tubular SOFC technologies are modelled. The cathode recycle and electric heater integration options are not attractive in comparison to the base case anode recycle …