Digital Commons Network^™

Foraging Behaviour And Brain Morphology In Recently Emerged Brook Charr, Salvelinus Fontinalis, Alexander D.M. Wilson, Robert L. Mclaughlin

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

No abstract provided.

Sentence Processing: Linking Language To Motor Chains, F Chersi, S Thill, T Ziemke, Am Borghi

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

A growing body of evidence in cognitive science and neuroscience points towards the existence of a deep interconnection between cognition, perception and action. According to this embodied perspective language is grounded in the sensorimotor system and language understanding is based on a mental simulation process (Jeannerod, 2007 ; Gallese, 2008 ; Barsalou, 2009 ). This means that during action words and sentence comprehension the same perception, action, and emotion mechanisms implied during interaction with objects are recruited. Among the neural underpinnings of this simulation process an important role is played by a sensorimotor matching system known as the mirror neuron …

Social Relationships And Mortality Risk: A Meta-Analytic Review, Julianne Holt-Lunstad

Faculty Publications

Background

The quality and quantity of individuals' social relationships has been linked not only to mental health but also to both morbidity and mortality.

Objectives

This meta-analytic review was conducted to determine the extent to which social relationships influence risk for mortality, which aspects of social relationships are most highly predictive, and which factors may moderate the risk.

Data Extraction

Data were extracted on several participant characteristics, including cause of mortality, initial health status, and pre-existing health conditions, as well as on study characteristics, including length of follow-up and type of assessment of social relationships.

Results

Across 148 studies (308,849 …

Green In Action, Nancy Steele Brokaw '71

Illinois Wesleyan University Magazine, 2002-2017

In ways large and small, the University strives toward environmental sustainability.

The Student Perspective: Can The Use Of Technologies Transform Learning?, Eileen O'Donnell

Books/Book Chapters

This chapter explores students’ perspectives on the transformations that the use of technology has brought to higher education. The use of technologies in higher education facilitates flexible learning environments but the benefits to students who engage with these technologies will only be realised if the design is pedagogically sound. The pedagogic approach employed by lecturers when designing their e-learning platforms or learning management systems has the capability to transform learning. The author’s discipline is Information Technology and Business Information Systems; from experience and case studies there is ample evidence to suggest that the use of technology does not always necessarily …

Students’ Perceptions Of Audio Feedback: An Examination Of Individual Differences, Daire Hooper

Conference Papers

No abstract provided.

Towards An Understanding Of Students’ Use Of Audio Feedback: An Exploratory Study, Daire Hooper

Conference Papers

iCERi2010, Madrid, Spain.

Internet Marketing For Profit Organizations: A Framework For The Implementation Of Strategic Internet Marketing, Felix Rimbach

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

The development of the Internet has significantly changed the face of established markets and operation approaches across a tremendous spectrum of different industries. Within the competitive environment of those industries, the opportunities and risks derived from the new platform are so ubiquitous that unused opportunities quickly translate into potential risks. Those opportunities and risks demand for a structured approach how to implement a sustainable Internet marketing strategy that targets clear business objectives. Marketing and strategic management theory describes very clear structural principles towards their operational implementation. Based on those principles an extensive literature review has been conducted which confirms the …

Introduction To "Multiliteracies, Social Futures, And Writing Centers", Harry Denny

The Writing Center Journal

No abstract provided.

Information For Authors

The Writing Center Journal

No abstract provided.

Announcements

The Writing Center Journal

No abstract provided.

Impaired Immune Tolerance To Porphyromonas Gingivalis Lipopolysaccharide Promotes Neutrophil Migration And Decreased Apoptosis., S Zaric, C Shelburne, R Darveau, Dj Quinn, S Weldon, Cc Taggart, Wa Coulter

Peninsula Dental School

Periodontitis, a chronic inflammatory disease of the tissues supporting the teeth, is characterized by an exaggerated host immune and inflammatory response to periopathogenic bacteria. Toll-like receptor activation, cytokine network induction, and accumulation of neutrophils at the site of inflammation are important in the host defense against infection. At the same time, induction of immune tolerance and the clearance of neutrophils from the site of infection are essential in the control of the immune response, resolution of inflammation, and prevention of tissue destruction. Using a human monocytic cell line, we demonstrate that Porphyromonas gingivalis lipopolysaccharide (LPS), which is a major etiological …

The Development Of A Semantic Model For The Interpretation Of Mathematics Including The Use Of Technology, Michael Peters

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

The semantic model developed in this research was in response to the difficulty a group of mathematics learners had with conventional mathematical language and their interpretation of mathematical constructs. In order to develop the model ideas from linguistics, psycholinguistics, cognitive psychology, formal languages and natural language processing were investigated. This investigation led to the identification of four main processes: the parsing process, syntactic processing, semantic processing and conceptual processing. The model showed the complex interdependency between these four processes and provided a theoretical framework in which the behaviour of the mathematics learner could be analysed. The model was then extended …

Forming Ireland's Industrial Development Authority, Paul Donnelly

Books/Book Chapters

Tracing the creation and (re)production of Ireland’s Industrial Development Authority (IDA) through the lens of path dependence theory, the story charts the IDA’s creation within protectionism. In parallel with the gradual shift away from protection towards free trade, the story follows the IDA’s emergence as the state’s pre-eminent industrial development agency, its re-creation as a state-sponsored organisation and the growing political, institutional and monetary resources afforded it in return for delivery on objectives, largely in the shape of new job creation. However, the increasing reliance on foreign investment to meet targets, at the expense of indigenous industry, eventually surfaces as …

Institutionalizing Ireland’S Industrial Development Authority, Paul Donnelly

Conference papers

Actor-network theory is considered to have great potential for broadening and deepening our grasp of institutional work (Lawrence and Suddaby, 2006). Given its focus on process, ANT offers a means to breathe life into the practices associated with institutionalization. With Callon’s (1986) four moments of translation as analytical lens, and with Ireland’s Industrial Development Authority as empirical example, I seek to address the concerns in the call for papers to reconsider ‘the role of agency, power, persistence and change in the process of institutionalization.’

Prominence Driven Character Animation, Charlie Cullen, Paula Mcgloin, Anna Deegan, Evin Mccarthy

Conference papers

This paper details the development of a fully automated system for character animation implemented in Autodesk Maya. The system uses prioritised speech events to algorithmically generate head, body, arms and leg movements alongside eyeblinks, eyebrow movements and lip-synching. In addition, gaze tracking is also generated automatically relative to the definition of focus objects- contextually important objects in the character's worldview. The plugin uses an animation profile to store the relevant controllers and movements for a specific character, allowing any character to run with the system. Once a profile has been created, an audio file can be loaded and animated with …

Development Of A Moodle Vle Plug-In To Support Simultaneous Visualisation Of A Collection Of Multi-Media Sign Language Objects, Brian Nolan

Conference Papers

Using Virtual Learning Environments (VLE) to support blended learning is very common in educational institutes. Delivering learning material in a flexible and semi-structured manner to the learner transforms such systems into powerful eLearning tools. However, the presentation and visualisation of individual or multiple learning objects is mostly dictated by the system and cannot be altered easily. This paper reports on a project between Trinity College Dublin (TCD) and the Institute of Technology Blanchardstown (ITB) that aims to improve the simultaneous visualisation of multiple multimedia objects for deaf learners of ISL. The project was implemented using the Open Source VLE Moodle. …

Ultrasound-Assisted Swnts Dispersion: Effects Of Sonication Parameters And Solvent Properties, Qiaohuan Cheng, Sourabhi Debnath, Elizabeth Gregan, Hugh Byrne

Articles

Ultrasonication is widely used for preparing Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube (SWNT) dispersions in different solvent media and it has been shown to play a critical role in dispersing and debundling SWNTs. The strong shear force that can exfoliate the SWNT bundles during sonication comes from cavitation, which entails a process of bubble formation, growth, and collapse. The efficiency of the cavitation process is closely correlated to many solvent parameters, including vapor pressure, viscosity, and surface tension, as well as the sonication frequency, intensity, and time. In this study, SWNTs were dispersed in a range of organic solvents assisted by tip sonication. …

A Systematic Study Of The Dispersion Of Swnts In Organic Solvents, Qiaohuan Cheng, Sourabhi Debnath, Luke O'Neill, Theresa Hedderman, Elizabeth Gregan, Hugh Byrne

Articles

Dispersions of as-produced HiPco single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) in a series of organic solvents were prepared by dilution with the aid of tip sonication. Mild centrifugation (~ 945 g) was carried out to remove large bundles. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) studies revealed that the bundle size decreased as the dispersion was diluted. By measuring the UV-vis-NIR absorption before and after centrifugation as a function of the concentration, the dispersion limit of SWNTs in each solvent can be determined. Correlations between the dispersion limit and solvent solubility parameters, including the Hildebrand solubility parameter and three dimensional Hansen solubility parameters, are explored, …

Dear Students: Don't Let College Unplug Your Future, Gideon Burton

Faculty Publications

I'm about to say something a college professor shouldn't say to his students, but I care about you a lot so I'm prepared to break the code and say what needs to be said: Your college experience is likely to set back your education, your career, and your creative potential. Ironically, this will be done in the name of education. You deserve to know about this! You have what it takes to reclaim, reform, and remix your education. Don't let college unplug your future!

Harmonizing Technology With Interaftion In Blended Problem-Based Learning, Roisin Donnelly

Journal Articles

This paper discusses the harmonizing role of technology and interaction in a qualitative study on blended 22 problem-based learning within the context of academic development in higher education. Within this 23 setting, and as both designers and tutors in blended PBL, it is important to seek best practices for how 24 to combine instructional strategies in face-to-face and computer-mediated environments that take 25 advantage of the strengths of each and avoid their weaknesses. A qualitative study of the lived experi- 26 ences of 17 academic staff participants in a blended problem-based learning module was considered 27 likely to provide a …

Interaction Analysis In A ‘Learning By Doing’ Problem-Based Professional Development Context, Roisin Donnelly

Journal Articles

This paper explores the concept and practice of interaction within a blended problem-based learning (PBL) module for academic professional development in higher education. A qualitative study spanning two years of the lived experiences of 17 academic staff in a blended PBL module was considered likely to provide a much needed analysis of current thinking and practice on the potential of interaction. Relevant constructivist theories are applied to face-to-face PBL tutorials, online discussions, focus group interviews and reflective papers. For designers and tutors in blended PBL, it is important to seek best practices for how to combine instructional strategies in classroom …

Instructional Videocasts: Facilitating Learning In A Mobile World, Roisin Donnelly, Robert Hickey

Journal Articles

This paper critically discusses the new opportunities unique to the use of mobile platforms to complement formal learning with informal learning in an apprenticeship context. It begins with an outline of a problem identified by the teacher-researcher with phase six apprentice bricklaying students achieving psycomotor learning outcomes, mainly due to high student numbers and limited available workshop time. A solution to this problem is presented through the facilitation of the students using eleven short instructional video demonstrations on mobile phones to optimise their time. These were uploaded to the memory cards of the students’ mobile phones. Within an action research …

The Extent Of Clientelism In Irish Politics: Evidence From Classifying Dáil Questions On A Local-National Dimension, Sarah Jane Delany, Richard Sinnott, Niall O'Reilly

Conference papers

The availability of the full text of Irish parliamentary questions offers opportunities for using machine learning techniques to examine the currently much discussed role of elected representatives (TDs) in the Irish parliamentary system. Bluntly, are TDs mainly national legislators or “constituency messenger boys”? This paper presents an initial investigation into the use of automated text classification techniques to categorise parliamentary questions from 1922 up to 2008 as national or local. The approach uses a bag of words representation, standard feature reduction methods and an SVM classifier. Initial results show there is very little evidence in the corpus of parliamentary questions …

Using Crowdsourcing For Labelling Emotional Speech Assets, Alexey Tarasov, Sarah Jane Delany, Charlie Cullen

Conference papers

The success of supervised learning approaches for the classification of emotion in speech depends highly on the quality of the training data. The manual annotation of emotion speech assets is the primary way of gathering training data for emotional speech recognition. This position paper proposes the use of crowdsourcing for the rating of emotion speech assets. Recent developments in learning from crowdsourcing offer opportunities to determine accurate ratings for assets which have been annotated by large numbers of non-expert individuals. The challenges involved include identifying good annotators, determining consensus ratings and learning the bias of annotators.

Study Of The Microbial Diversity And Antimicrobial Properties Of Irish Edible Brown Seaweeds, Shilpi Gupta, Gaurav Rajauria, Nissreen Abu-Ghannam

Articles

Brown Irish edible seaweeds, Himanthalia elongata, Laminaria sachharina and Laminaria digitata, were evaluated for the microbiota in raw and heat processed form. Raw seaweeds showed complete absence of aerobic mesophiles, halophiles, yeasts and molds. However, heating at 85 C for 15 min resulted in spore germination. Bacterial counts as high as 107 were observed for aerobic mesophiles and halophiles. Heating above 95 C for 15 min resulted in complete inactivation of surface microflora. Bacteria belonging to Bacillaceae, Paenibacillaceae, Moraxellaceae and Enterobacteriaceae family were identified by 16S rRNA sequencing. In vitro antimicrobial activity of the methanolic extracts of the seaweed on …

Growth And Kinetics Of Lactobacillus Plantarum In The Fermentation Of Edible Irish Brown Seaweeds, Shilpi Gupta, Nissreen Abu-Ghannam, Amalia G.M. Scannell

Articles

The aim of the present study was to see the applicability of using brown edible seaweeds as a sole source of nutrition for the growth of lactic acid bacteria. Growth kinetics of lactic acid bacteria (LAB; Lactobacillus plantarum) was studied using three species of edible Irish brown seaweeds Himanthalia elongata, Laminaria digitata and Laminaria saccharina. As part of the screening process, growth of the LAB was carried out on raw and heat treated forms of seaweeds. The seaweed species in their raw state could not support the growth of L. plantarum. Heat treatment resulted in almost 4 times increase in …

Pk/Pd Modelling Of Comb-Shaped Pegylated Salmon Calcitonin Conjugates Of Differing Molecular Weights, Sinead Ryan, Jesus Maria Frias, David H. Haddleton, David J. Brayden

Articles

Salmon calcitonin (sCT) was conjugated via cysteine-1 to novel combed-shaped end-functionalised poly(PEG) methyl ether methacrylate) (sCT-P) comb-shaped polymers, to yield conjugates of total molecular weights (MW) inclusive of sCT: 6.5, 9.5, 23 and 40 kDa. The conjugates were characterised by HPLC and their in vitro and in vivo bioactivity was measured by cAMP assay on human T47D cells and following intravenous (i.v.) injection to rats, respectively. Stability against endopeptidases, rat serum and liver homogenates was assessed. There were linear and exponential relationships between conjugate MW with potency and efficacy respectively, however the largest MW conjugate still retained 70% of E …

Purification And Properties Of Amycolatopsis Mediterranei Dsm 43304 Lipase And Its Potential In Flavour Ester Synthesis, Dharmendra Dheeman, Gary Henehan, Jesus Maria Frias

Articles

An extracellular thermostable lipase from Amycolatopsis mediterranei DSM 43304 has been purified to homogeneity using ammonium sulphate precipitation followed by anion exchange chromatography and hydrophobic interaction chromatography. This protocol resulted in 398 fold purification with 36% final recovery. The purified A. mediterranei DSM 43304 lipase (AML) has an apparent molecular mass of 33 kDa. The N-terminal sequence, AANPYERGPDPTTASIEATR, showed highest similarity to a lipase from Streptomyces exfoliatus. The values of and for p-nitrophenyl palmitate (p-NPP) under optimal temperature (60°C) and pH (8.0) conditions were 0.10 ± 0.01 mM and 2.53 ± 0.06 mmol/minmg, respectively. The purified …

Ozone Inactivation Of Acid Stressed Listeria Monocytogenes And Listeria Innocua In Orange Juice Using A Bubble Column, Sonal Patil, Vasilis Valdramidis, Jesus Maria Frias, Patrick J. Cullen, Paula Bourke

Articles

Orange juice inoculated with Listeria monocytogenes strains ATCC 7644, NCTC 11994 and Listeria innocua NCTC 11288 (10⁶ CFU/ml) as challenge microorganisms was treated with direct ozone at 0.098mg/min/ml for different time periods (0-8 min) using an ozone bubble column. Ozone treatment of mild acid stressed and mild acid stress-habituated (pH 5.5) cells of L. monocytogenes resulted in higher inactivation times compared to control non-acid stressed cells. Additionally acid stressed cells habituated in orange juice (ATCC 7644 & NCTC 11288), showed higher inactivation times during ozonation by comparison with the control as well as the mild-acid stressed cells. Overall the …