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Stability Of Child Appetitive Traits And Association With Diet Quality At 5 Years And 9–11 Years Old: Findings From The Rolo Longitudinal Birth Cohort Study, Anna Delahunt, Sarah Louise Killeen, Eileen C. O'Brien, Aisling A. Geraghty, Sharleen L. O'Reilly, Ciara M. Mcdonnell, Rosemary Cushion, John Mehegan, Fionnuala M. Mcauliffe

Articles

Background: We explored change in child appetitive traits from 5 to 9–11 years old and examined associations between appetitive traits at both timepoints and child diet quality. Methods: This is secondary analyses of the ROLO longitudinal birth cohort study, including mother-child dyads from the 5 and 9–11-year old follow-up. The Children's Eating Behaviour Questionnaire measured child appetitive traits, with 167 children having matched data for both timepoints. The Healthy Eating Index (HEI) measured diet quality. Linear mixed models and multiple linear regression were completed. Results: Mean (SD) score for ‘Emotional Overeating' (1.63 (0.51) vs. 1.99 (0.57), p = <0.001) and ‘Enjoyment of Food' (3.79 (0.72) vs. 3.98 (0.66), p = <0.001) increased from 5 to 9–11 years. Mean score for ‘Desire to Drink' (2.63 (0.94) vs. 2.45 (0.85), p = 0.01), ‘Satiety Responsiveness (3.07 (0.66) vs. 2.71 (0.66), p = <0.001), ‘Slowness Eating' (3.02 (0.77) vs. 2.64 (0.78), p = <0.001), and ‘Food Fussiness' (3.00 (1.04) vs. 2.81 (0.96), p = 0.001) decreased. At 5-years-old, ‘Food Responsiveness' and ‘Enjoyment of Food' were positively associated with HEI and ‘Desire to Drink', ‘Satiety Responsiveness' and ‘Food Fussiness' were negatively associated with HEI. At 9–11-years, ‘Enjoyment of Food' was positively and ‘Desire to Drink' and ‘Food ‘Fussiness' were negatively associated with HEI. Conclusions: Food approach appetitive traits increased over time, whereas food avoidant appetitive traits tended to decrease. At both time points ‘Food Fussiness' and ‘Desire to Drink” were inversely associated with HEI. Further research on how appetitive traits track over childhood and how this relates to dietary quality and weight is warranted.

Prevalence Of Food Insecurity Among Caregivers Of Young Children During The Covid-19 Pandemic In Ireland, Elizabeth J. O'Sullivan, Caoimhe Daly, Aileen Kennedy

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Our objectives were to explore the prevalence of food insecurity in primary caregivers of young children in Ireland and to compare two tools for measuring food insecurity during the COVID-19 crisis. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among caregivers of children aged <2 years in Ireland in May/June 2020. Relevant survey questions were closed-ended using two established tools for measuring food poverty/insecurity; the Irish Food Poverty Indicator and the Food Insecurity Experience Scale, developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization. Descriptive statistics were used to calculate the prevalence of food poverty/insecurity. To explore agreement in the classification of food insecurity by the Food Poverty Indicator and the Food Insecurity Experience Scale, Cohen's κ was used. Analyses are based on 716 participants; most had a 3rd-level education and were married or in a partnership. Per the food poverty index, Ireland's national measure of food poverty, 3.9% (n = 28) of our sample were experiencing food poverty. This rose to 10.5% (n = 75) experiencing food insecurity when using the Food Insecurity Experience Scale, which also measures worry/anxiety around access to food. There was low agreement between the tools, with 11.3% of the sample classified as food secure by one tool and food insecure by the other. Our current measure of food poverty in Ireland may not be sufficient to describe the food-access struggles or worry/anxiety about food access, experienced by the population, particularly during an emergency like COVID-19.

Phbv Coating On Biodegradable Plastic Sheet: Effect Of Coating On Morphological, Mechanical And Barrier Properties, Fatemeh Jahangiri, Amar K. Mohanty, Akhilesh Kumar Pal, Shiv Shankar, Arturo Rodriguez-Uribe, Ryan Clemmer, Stefano Gregori, Manjusri Misra

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This research compares two coating techniques (dip-coating versus bar-coating) of poly(3-hydroxy butyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) on a biodegradable plastic sheet. A blend of 30% PHBV/70% poly (butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) with and without chain extender was explored as biodegradable plastic sheets, while PHBV coating was used to improve oxygen and water vapor barrier properties of the sheet without affecting the mechanical performance. The PHBV coating thickness was nominally 10-15 μm (dip-coating) and 25–35 μm (bar-coating). Comprehensive characterizations showed that a PHBV/PBAT/Joncryl (30 wt%/70 wt%/0.3phr) bar-coated with PHBV [coating weight: 10–15%] exhibited ~ 48% and ~ 53% improvement in water vapor and oxygen barrier, …

Influence Of Deep Eutectic Solvents On Redox Biocatalysis Involving Alcohol Dehydrogenases, Ebin K. Baby, Savitha Rangasamy, Gemma Kinsella, Kieran Nolan, Barry J. Ryan, Gary Henehan

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Redox biocatalysis plays an increasingly important role in modern organic synthesis. The recent integration of novel media such as deep eutectic solvents (DESs) has significantly impacted this field of chemical biology. Alcohol dehydrogenases (ADHs) are important biocatalysts where their unique specificity is used for enantioselective synthesis. This review explores aspects of redox biocatalysis in the presence of DES both with whole cells and with isolated ADHs. In both cases, the presence of DES has a significant influence on the outcome of reactions albeit via different mechanisms. For whole cells, DES was shown to be a useful tool to direct product …

Protease Hydrolysed Brewers' Spent Grain Bioactive Extracts For Applications In Human Health, Azza Silotry Naik, Mila Brugiere, Kevin Dunne, Michael Sorohan, Laura Grasa, Bilal Javed

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About 39 million tons of Brewer's spent grain (BSG), the main by-product of beer manufacturing, are produced annually and is used for low value applications. To valorise this rich bioresource, the present work entails bioprocessing of BSG with various proteases (Novozymes) at two different concentrations (4% and 9%) to solubilise protein, carbohydrate and polyphenols from the grain and evaluate its effect on gut and brain health. The results show the highest (p < 0.05) FRAP (Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power) based antioxidant activity was obtained for Pro 5 (4%: 108.10 ± 4.17 µmole Trolox Equivalence (TE)/g protein, 18.06 ± 0.70 µmole TE/g d.w., which was 3.6 times higher than untreated control extracts. The highest DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) scavenging activity was obtained for the same extract (Pro 5 at 4%: 0.118 ± 0.006 µg AAE/mg d.w., 9%: 0.110 ± 0.006 µg AAE/mg d.w). Proximate composition showed this extract to contain the highest concentration of proteins at 21.66% ± 2.71, and color analysis showed the same Pro 5 (4%) extract to be the darkest (L*53.73) indicating the possible presence of dark polyphenols. Anticancer screening showed Control and Pro 1 to possess cytotoxic effect against colon cancer cells with IC50 of 3.2 and 13.91 mg/mL, respectively. No significant activity was noted against the brain cancer cell line. Thus anti-colon cancer activity of BSG extracts highlights its potential in gut health. The observed bioactivity resulted from a combination of peptides, carbohydrates and polyphenolic compounds in the extract and warrants further characterisation for targeted nutraceutical applications. Graphical abstract: (Figure presented.).

Gene Expression Of Kynurenine Pathway Enzymes In Depression And Following Electroconvulsive Therapy, Karen M. Ryan, Myles Corrigan, Therese M. Murphy, Declan M. Mcloughlin, Andrew Harkin

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Objective: This study aimed to investigate changes in mRNA expression of the kynurenine pathway (KP) enzymes tryptophan 2, 3-dioxygenase (TDO), indoleamine 2, 3-dioxygenase 1 and 2 (IDO1, IDO2), kynurenine aminotransferase 1 and 2 (KAT1, KAT2), kynurenine monooxygenase (KMO) and kynureninase (KYNU) in medicated patients with depression (n = 74) compared to age- and sex-matched healthy controls (n = 55) and in patients with depression after electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Associations with mood score (24-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, HAM-D24), plasma KP metabolites and selected glucocorticoid and inflammatory immune markers known to regulate KP enzyme expression were also explored. Methods: HAM-D24 was …

Optimizing Foaming Agents For Shelf-Stable Foam-Mat-Dried Black Mulberry Juice Powder, Bhavesh Khatri, Hamid, Amit K. Jaiswal

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This study aimed to optimize foaming agent concentrations for producing shelf-stable black mulberry (Morus nigra L.) juice powder. Freshly harvested fruits were analyzed for physicochemical characteristics, including anthocyanin and antioxidant activity. Results showed that freshly harvested fruits exhibited an average anthocyanin content of 320 mg/100g and antioxidant activity of 85 per cent. The juice was treated with varying concentrations of maltodextrin (MD), carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), and glycerol monostearates (GMS), and then foam-mat dried at 60 °C for 6–8 h. Powders were evaluated for physicochemical and foaming properties. Three optimal treatments (10 g/100 mL of MD, 5 g/100 mL of CMC, …

Confronting Structural Inequality In State Labor Law, Andrew Elmore

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Low-wage workers face a structural problem in seeking to improve their work standards: While companies have substantial labor market power to impose work terms and conditions, workers require affirmative state support to collectively press their workplace demands. But their employers can mobilize private capital and property rights, often with judicial deference, to fend off state intrusions into the workplace. While the National Labor Relations Act aims to resolve this structural problem by protecting the rights of workers to join unions, strike, and collectively bargain, employers, backed by judicial support for managerial prerogatives and property rights, can often leverage NLRA weaknesses …

Politicizing Antisemitism Amidst Today's Educational Culture Wars, Lili Levi

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The traditional narrative of American Jewry emphasizes American exceptionalism with respect to antisemitism. But there have been clear signs of a resurgence of public antisemitism in the United States even before the massive rise in antisemitic expression and incidents associated with the Israel-Hamas war of fall 2023.

One of the notable aspects of the rise and normalization of antisemitic expression is the deployment of antisemitism as a political tool. For example, in addition to Democrats and Republicans accusing each other of complicity in antisemitism, both federal policy since the Trump era and state anti-antisemitism legislation have targeted campus antisemitism in …

Monitoring The Curing, Degradation And Moisture Ingress Into Alkyl 2-Cyanoacrylate Adhesives Using Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy, Kevin Raheem, John Cassidy, Bernard Ryan, Anthony Betts

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Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) was employed in an attempt to gain insight into the mechanisms of ethyl 2-cyanoacrylate (ECA) curing (polymerisation) and bonding on aluminium alloy 2024 metal. EIS can detect ionic movement, adsorption processes, charge transfer and storage occurring at an adhesive/substrate interface and/or in a bulk bond line during curing. Low-frequency capacitance measurements demonstrated sensitivity to surface polymerisation reactions and were modelled using an equivalent circuit model with two time constants in series. At a frequency of 1 kHz, changes in the dielectric polymer could be readily followed with time, confirmed by employing a crown ether to accelerate …

Chickpea Seed Endophyte Enterobacter Sp. Mediated Yield And Nutritional Enrichment Of Chickpea For Improving Human And Livestock Health, Arpan Mukherjee, Anand Kumar Gaurav, Gowardhan Kumar Chouhan, Saurabh Singh, Ankita Sarkar, Saman Abeysinghe, Jay Prakash Verma

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Chickpeas (Cicer arietinum L.) are used as a good source of proteins and energy in the diets of various organisms including humans and animals. Chickpea straws can serve as an alternative option for forage for different ruminants. This research mainly focussed on screening the effects of adding beneficial chickpea seed endophytes on increasing the nutritional properties of the different edible parts of chickpea plants. Two efficient chickpea seed endophytes (Enterobacter sp. strain BHUJPCS-2 and BHUJPCS-8) were selected and applied to the chickpea seeds before sowing in the experiment conducted on clay pots. Chickpea seeds treated with both endophytes showed improved …

Draft Genome Sequence Of Cellulose-Degrading Bacillus Stercoris Bhujpv-Ss7 Isolated From Soil Mixed With Wood Powder, Saurabh Singh, Arthur Prudêncio De Araujo Pereira, Thierry A. Pellegrinetti, Jay Prakash Verma

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We report a complete genome of Bacillus stercoris BHUJPV-SS7 isolated from soil which contains 4,299 predicted genes and 4,012 predicted protein-coding genes within its chromosome (4,115,399 bp), and has 43.51% G + C content and a predicted beta-1,4-glucanase (EC 3.2.1.4) gene.

Vitamin K2 In Health And Disease: A Clinical Perspective, Tao Zhang, Christine O'Connor, Helen Sheridan, James W. Barlow

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Vitamins are essential organic compounds that vary widely in chemical structure and are vital in small quantities for numerous biochemical and biological functions. They are critical for metabolism, growth, development and maintaining overall health. Vitamins are categorised into two groups: hydrophilic and lipophilic. Vitamin K (VK), a lipophilic vitamin, occurs naturally in two primary forms: phylloquinone (VK1), found in green leafy vegetables and algae, and Menaquinones (VK2), present in certain fermented and animal foods and widely formulated in VK supplements. This review explores the possible factors contributing to VK deficiency, including dietary influences, and discusses the pharmacological and therapeutic potential …

Ireland, Intellectual Property And The Political Economy Of Information Monopolies, Kenneth W. Murphy

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Ireland’s policies towards US-owned global digital intermediaries (Big Tech) have emerged as an international political issue and received global media attention. So far, political and media focus has been on the impact of Ireland’s tax policies on the revenue-raising ability of other European states and perceptions of light touch regulation of those corporations based in the Republic. The current paper will focus on how Ireland’s switch to a focus on capital allowances for the sizeable American tech corporations has enabled the latter to sustain their dominance in the digital transition through incentivizing and subsidizing their switch to assetization as a …

Chatgpt Needs Spade (Sustainability, Privacy, Digital Divide, And Ethics) Evaluation: A Review, Sunder Ali Khowaja, Parus Khuwaja, Kapal Dev, Weizheng Wang, Lewis Nkenyereye

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ChatGPT is another large language model (LLM) vastly available for the consumers on their devices but due to its performance and ability to converse effectively, it has gained a huge popularity amongst research as well as industrial community. Recently, many studies have been published to show the effectiveness, efficiency, integration, and sentiments of chatGPT and other LLMs. In contrast, this study focuses on the important aspects that are mostly overlooked, i.e. sustainability, privacy, digital divide, and ethics and suggests that not only chatGPT but every subsequent entry in the category of conversational bots should undergo Sustainability, PrivAcy, Digital divide, and …

An Image Processing Approach For Real-Time Safety Assessment Of Autonomous Drone Delivery, Assem A. Abdelhak, Dan Moss, Alan Hicks, Susan Mckeever

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The aim of producing self-driving drones has driven many researchers to automate various drone driving functions, such as take-off, navigation, and landing. However, despite the emergence of delivery as one of the most important uses of autonomous drones, there is still no automatic way to verify the safety of the delivery stage. One of the primary steps in the delivery operation is to ensure that the dropping zone is a safe area on arrival and during the dropping process. This paper proposes an image-processing-based classification approach for the delivery drone dropping process at a predefined destination. It employs live streaming …

Explainable Artificial Intelligence (Xai) 2.0: A Manifesto Of Open Challenges And Interdisciplinary Research Directions, Luca Longo, Mario Brcic, Federico Cabitza, Jaesik Choi, Roberto Confalonieri, Javier Del Ser, Riccardo Guidotti, Yoichi Hayashi, Francisco Herrera, Andreas Holzinger, Richard Jiang, Hassan Khosravi, Freddy Lecue, Gianclaudio Malgieri, Andrés Páez, Wojciech Samek, Johannes Schneider, Timo Speith, Simone Stumpf, Artificial Intelligence And Cognitive Load Research Lab

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Understanding black box models has become paramount as systems based on opaque Artificial Intelligence (AI) continue to flourish in diverse real-world applications. In response, Explainable AI (XAI) has emerged as a field of research with practical and ethical benefits across various domains. This paper highlights the advancements in XAI and its application in real-world scenarios and addresses the ongoing challenges within XAI, emphasizing the need for broader perspectives and collaborative efforts. We bring together experts from diverse fields to identify open problems, striving to synchronize research agendas and accelerate XAI in practical applications. By fostering collaborative discussion and interdisciplinary cooperation, …

Generalised Zero-Shot Learning For Action Recognition Fusing Text And Image Gans, Kaiqiang Huang, Susan Mckeever, Luis Miralles-Pechuán

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Generalized Zero-Shot Action Recognition (GZSAR) is geared towards recognizing classes that the model has not been trained on, while still maintaining robust performance on the familiar, trained classes. This approach mitigates the need for an extensive amount of labeled training data and enhances the efficient utilization of available datasets. The main contribution of this paper is a novel approach for GZSAR that combines the power of two Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs). One GAN is responsible for generating embeddings from visual representations, while the other GAN focuses on generating embeddings from textual representations. These generated embeddings are fused, with the selection …

A Global Model-Agnostic Rule-Based Xai Method Based On Parameterized Event Primitives For Time Series Classifiers, Ephrem Tibebe Mekonnen, Luca Longo, Pierpaolo Dondio

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Time series classification is a challenging research area where machine learning and deep learning techniques have shown remarkable performance. However, often, these are seen as black boxes due to their minimal interpretability. On the one hand, there is a plethora of eXplainable AI (XAI) methods designed to elucidate the functioning of models trained on image and tabular data. On the other hand, adapting these methods to explain deep learning-based time series classifiers may not be straightforward due to the temporal nature of time series data. This research proposes a novel global post-hoc explainable method for unearthing the key time steps …

Fractal Dimensions And Machine Learning For Detection Of Parkinson's Disease In Resting-State Electroencephalography, Utkarsh Lal, Arjun Vinayak Chikkankod, Luca Longo

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Parkinson's disease (PD) is an incurable neurological disorder that degenerates the cerebrospinal nervous system and hinders motor functions. Electroencephalography (EEG) signal analysis can provide reliable information regarding PD conditions. However, EEG is a complex, multichannel, and nonlinear signal with noise that problematizes identifying PD symptoms. A few studies have employed fractal dimension (FD) to extract distinguishing PD features from EEG signals. However, no exploratory study exists, as per our knowledge, on the efficiency of the different FD measures. We aim to conduct a comparative analysis of the various FDs that, as feature extraction measures, can discriminate PD patients who are …

Extending User Control For Image Stylization Using Hierarchical Style Transfer Networks, Sunder Ali Khowaja, Sultan Almakdi, Muhammad Ali Memon, Parus Khuwaja, Adel Sulaiman, Ali Alqahtani, Asadullah Shaikh, Abdullah Alghamdi

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No abstract provided.

A Comparative Study On Feature Extraction Techniques For The Discrimination Of Frontotemporal Dementia And Alzheimer's Disease With Electroencephalography In Resting-State Adults, Utkarsh Lal, Arjun Vinayak Chikkankod, Luca Longo

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Early-stage Alzheimer's disease (AD) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) share similar symptoms, complicating their diagnosis and the development of specific treatment strategies. Our study evaluated multiple feature extraction techniques for identifying AD and FTD biomarkers from electroencephalographic (EEG) signals. We developed an optimised machine learning architecture that integrates sliding windowing, feature extraction, and supervised learning to distinguish between AD and FTD patients, as well as from healthy controls (HCs). Our model, with a 90% overlap for sliding windowing, SVD entropy for feature extraction, and K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN) for supervised learning, achieved a mean F1-score and accuracy of 93% and 91%, 92.5% …

Combinedeepnet: A Deep Network For Multistep Prediction Of Near-Surface Pm2.5 Concentration, Prasanjit Dey, Soumyabrata Dev, Bianca Schoen Phelan

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PM2.5 is a type of air pollutant that can cause respiratory and cardiovascular problems. Precise PM2.5 (μg/m3) concentration prediction may help reduce health concerns and provide early warnings. To better understand air pollution, a number of approaches have been presented for predicting PM2.5 concentrations. Previous research used deep learning models for hourly predictions of air pollutants due to their success in pattern recognition, however, these models were unsuitable for multisite, long-term predictions, particularly in regard to the correlation between pollutants and meteorological data. This article proposes the combine deep network (CombineDeepNet), which combines multiple deep networks, including a bidirectional long …

Current Account Imbalances, Real Exchange Rates, And Nominal Exchange Rate Variability, A. Velic

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This paper globally analyzes the bivariate relation between large current account imbalances and the real exchange rate over different degrees of nominal exchange rate variability. Employing both linear and nonlinear panel estimation procedures, we typically find an inverse long-run link between large imbalances and the real exchange rate at lower nominal exchange rate rigidity levels. This is in contrast to the often non-existent or positive comovement that materializes under lower nominal exchange rate variation. Our results thus suggest that greater nominal exchange rate adjustment can induce a stabilizing “current account”-“real exchange rate” relation. Meanwhile, current account adjustment speeds up with …

Microfluidic Flowmeter Based On A Liquid Crystal-Filled Nested Capillary, Zhe Wang, Arun Kumar Mallik, Fangfang Wei, Zhuochen Wang, Anuradha Rout, Rayhan Habib Jibon, Qiang Wu, Yuliya Semenova, University College Cork

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Microfluidic flowmeters are a powerful and highly accurate tool, enabling precise monitoring and measurements of flows of gases and fluids in a range of applications. Here we proposed and experimentally demonstrated a whispering gallery modes flowmeter composed of a liquid crystal-filled nested capillary. Whispering gallery modes are excited by a tapered fiber coupled perpendicularly to the nested capillary. The air flowing through the capillary cools it down, which leads to a temperature-induced change of the refractive index of the nematic liquid crystals. This change in turn leads to a spectral shift of the whispering gallery modes resonances, which can be …

Choline Chloride – Oxalic Acid Dihydrate Deep Eutectic Solvent Pretreatment Of Barley Straw For Production Of Cellulose Nanofibers, Dileswar Pradhan, Swarna Jaiswal, Brijesh K. Tiwari, Amit K. Jaiswal

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This study investigates the production of cellulose nanofibers (CNF) from Barley straw using ultrasound-assisted deep eutectic solvent (US-DES) treatment for biomass fractionation and subsequent high-intensity ultrasonication (HIUS) for nano-fibrillation. Two deep eutectic solvents (DES), synthesized from choline chloride (ChCl) and oxalic acid dihydrate (OAD) at 1:1 and 2:1 M ratio, achieved solubilisation of over 80 % of lignin and hemicellulose under optimal conditions. The purification of these DES-treated materials resulted in cellulose with a purity >88 %. CNFs, characterized by a size of <100 nm, a polydispersity index under 0.5, and a zeta potential lower than −30 mV, were successfully isolated through a combination of wet grinding and HIUS treatment. SEM and XRD results showed the formation of a network of interconnected fibres with a Type I cellulose structure. This research highlights Barley straw's potential as a sustainable source of high-value CNF from agricultural waste.

Mental Workload As A Predictor Of Atco's Performance: Lessons Learnt From Atm Task-Related Experiments, Enrique Muñoz-De-Escalona, Maria Chiara Leva, José Juan Cañas

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Air Traffic Controllers' (ATCos) mental workload is likely to remain the specific greatest functional limitation on the capacity of the Air Traffic Management (ATM) system. Developing computational models to monitor mental workload and task complexity is essential for enabling ATCOs and ATM systems to adapt to varying task demands. Most methodologies have computed task complexity based on basic parameters such as air-traffic density; however, literature research has shown that it also depends on many other factors. In this paper, we present a study in which we explored the possibility of predicting task complexity and performance through mental workload measurements of …

An Analysis Of The Public Participation Processes Employed For An Urban Greenway Project, Maeve O'Connell

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The purpose of this study is to examine the public participation mechanisms employed for a proposed new infrastructure project. Public participation is a core characteristic of a contemporary democratic society as policy makers are increasingly encouraged to engage with citizens for learning and legitimacy. Participation is a loose concept with many forms and interpretations. This study explores the key characteristics of public participation formats, challenges to and the criteria for success. This analysis is then applied to the proposed local infrastructure consultation process. An additional survey is designed and its role in the public participation process is assessed. The processes …

The Impact Of Explaining Vegetarian Meal Requests On The Affective Responses And Perceptions Of Meat Eaters, Kate Laffan, Emma Howard

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Social situations can present challenges for those looking to reduce or avoid eating meat. In an experimental vignette study with a large representative sample of 1,117 UK-based meat eaters, we explore affective responses to requests for vegetarian meals and perceptions of those making the request across four social situations: a BBQ, a pub, a restaurant dinner, and a dinner party. We examine moderators of these perceptions including whether the requester presents themselves as vegetarian or a meat restrictor and whether they cite health, environmental or no motives for their request. Overall, we find that these moderators have a greater impact …

A Methodological Framework For Exploring Sme Finance With Safe Data, Marie Finnegan, Lucía Morales, Atlantic Technological University

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Research on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) access to bank finance is vital for the euro area economy. SMEs heavily represent the European business sector, employing around 100 million people and accounting for more than half of the Gross Domestic Product. Research studies in the field often rely on the ECB/EC Survey on the Access to Finance of Enterprises (SAFE). Many studies employ probit or logit models with categorical dependent variables derived from SAFE. The research findings show that hardly any study employs the simpler linear probability model (LPM), with a dominant lack of research providing evidence that justifies the …