Digital Commons Network^™

The Effects Of Long-Duration Subduction Earthquakes On Inelastic Behavior Of Bridge Pile Foundations Subjected To Liquefaction-Induced Lateral Spreading, Jonathan Nasr, Arash Khosravifar

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Effective-stress nonlinear dynamic analyses (NDA) were performed for a large-diameter reinforced concrete (RC) pile in multi-layered liquefiable sloped ground. The objective was to assess the effects of earthquake duration on the combination of inertia and liquefaction-induced lateral spreading. A parametric study was performed using input motions from subduction and crustal earthquakes covering a wide range of motion durations. The NDA results showed that the pile head displacements increased under liquefied conditions, compared to nonliquefied conditions, due to liquefaction-induced lateral spreading. The NDA results were used to develop a displacement-based equivalent static analysis (ESA) method that combines inertial and lateral spreading …

Scoring Analysis Of The Men’S 2014, 2015 And 2016 World Championship Tour Of Surfing: The Importance Of Aerial Manoeuvres In Competitive Surfing, Brendon Ferrier, Jeremy Sheppard, Oliver R.L. Farley, Josh L. Secomb, Joanna Parsonage, Robert Newton, Sophia Nimphius

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of aerial manoeuvres on scoring in professional surfing. 23,631 waves were analysed for the number and types of aerial manoeuvres performed from the 2014, 2015 and 2016 Men’s World Championship Tour. Additionally, the awarded score, timing and order of the aerial was also analysed. Descriptive statistics and Two Way ANOVA’s were performed with Sidak Multiple Comparisons Post Hoc analysis. Results were a significantly higher score being awarded (P ≤ 0.0001) when including an aerial in competition across all three seasons. In 2015 surfers were awarded a significantly larger score …

Children’S Perceptions Of The Importance And Value Of Reading, Margaret K. Merga, Saiyidi Mat Roni

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Fostering children’s engagement in regular recreational reading beyond independent skill acquisition is beneficial to promote continued literacy engagement. Regular recreational reading is associated with both literacy skill acquisition and maintenance across the life span. Children’s perceptions of the importance and value of reading can influence their motivation to read. However, it is not currently known if children continue to perceive the value of reading beyond the period of independent reading skill acquisition. Findings from a sample of 997 older elementary children indicate that some children may not recognise the value of reading beyond independent reading skill acquisition. This is particularly …

Entrepreneurial Csr, Managerial Role And Firm Resources: A Case Study Approach, Alonso Duarte, Ian P. Austin

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to contribute to the extant body of the entrepreneurship and business management literature, investigating corporate social responsibility (CSR) and its implications for firms’ competitiveness. The cases of four different firms are examined through the lens of the resource-based view of the firm and role theory. Design/methodology/approach: Face-to-face and telephone interviews were conducted with the owners and managers of four model firms identified in Western Australia. Findings: While financial outcomes clearly stand out as the end goal for engaging in CSR-related practices, the importance of firm managers’ entrepreneurial role emerges in using existing resources …

Neuromuscular Factors Contributing To Reductions In Muscle Force After Repeated, High-Intensity Muscular Efforts, Benjamin J. C. Kirk

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Fatigue can accumulate sufficiently to limit muscular force production during repeated, forceful muscle contractions, including those that occur in the occupational, clinical and athletic settings. Fatigue during such efforts is likely to result from disturbances to multiple processes in the nervous system and muscle. However, previous research examining the mechanisms underpinning fatigue have typically required subjects to perform low-level constant-force contractions or to repeat maximal efforts in a single set format. Such tasks do not translate well to occupational, daily living or athletic situations where high-intensity, yet submaximal, repeated efforts may be performed in work bouts (or sets) with brief …

Gender Differences In Physical Performance Characteristics Of Competitive Surfers, Joanna Parsonage

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Competitive surfing is judged on the performance and complexity of innovative and progressive manoeuvres. As such, surfers require the physical attributes of strength and power in both the upper and lower-body in order to facilitate performance. To date, there remains limited research pertaining to the physical performance characteristics of competitive female surfers, making it difficult to quantify the current gender gap in performance attributes. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis was fivefold: (1) to describe and compare the gender differences in physical performance characteristics of competitive surfers; (2) to investigate the reliability and validity of the isometric push-up (IPU), dynamic …

Ultrasound Measurements On The Inferior Vena Cava By Renal Nursing Staff For Assessment And Management Of Intravascular Volume Status In Haemodialysis Patients, Ulrich Steinwandel

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Title: Ultrasound measurements on the inferior vena cava (IVC-US) by renal nursing staff for assessment and management of intravascular volume status in haemodialysis patients.

Aims: The primary aim of this thesis was to provide evidence that renal nurses could safely and efficiently perform IVC-US on haemodialysis patients to obtain objective assessment of intravascular volume status and potentially reduce adverse events and morbidity. The secondary aims for this study were: (1) conduct a systematic literature review to identify evidence if renal nurses have previously used this method for intravascular volume assessment; (2) teach a renal nurse through a staged educational programme, …

Residents’ Perceptions Of Geotourism In Qeshm Island Unesco Global Geopark, Iran, Shahrzad Khodayar

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

While much scholarly attention has explored the impacts of tourism behaviour on a destination, little is known about the effects of geotourism activities on host communities. Geotourism is a type of tourism based on geological features. It has been variously defined as a tourism with a ‘geological’ or ‘geographical’ orientation. This study addresses this gap in the literature by exploring residents’ perceptions of the impacts of geotourism development in the Qeshm UNESCO Global Geopark in the Persian Gulf in Iran. Qeshm Geopark has a sensitive environment as well as a strict traditional culture and it receives about 3 million visitors …

Time On Androgen Deprivation Therapy And Adaptations To Exercise: Secondary Analysis From A 12-Month Randomized Controlled Trial In Men With Prostate Cancer, Dennis R. Taaffe, Laurien M. Buffart, Robert U. Newton, Nigel Spry, James Denham, David Joseph, David Lamb, Suzanne K. Chambers, Daniel A. Galvao

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Objectives

To explore if duration of previous exposure to androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) in men with prostate cancer (PCa) undertaking a year-long exercise programme moderates the exercise response with regard to body composition and muscle performance, and also to explore the moderator effects of baseline testosterone, time since ADT, and baseline value of the outcome.

Patients and Methods

In a multicentre randomized controlled trial, 100 men who had previously undergone either 6 months (short-term) or 18 months (long-term) of ADT in combination with radiotherapy, as part of the TROG 03.04 RADAR trial, were randomized to 6 months supervised exercise, followed …

Mdl V. Trump: The Puzzle Of Public Law In Multidistrict Litigation, Andrew D. Bradt, Zachary D. Clopton

NULR Online

No abstract provided.

Developing A Unified Approach To Sustainable Consumption Behaviour: Opportunities For A New Environmental Paradigm, Vivienne Byers, Alan Gilmer

Articles

Politicians and national policy makers seek to encourage individuals to engage in a wide range of pro-environmental practices to address both discrete environmental problems and major global challenges such as climate change. Theoretically, the field of behavioural management in environmental consumption which seeks to change holarchic open human systems, is much contested. This paper proposes to develop a synthesized conceptual framework embracing a unified approach that addresses the systematic, structural, and institutional perspectives on how consumption, through public policy initiatives, can be developed and changed to reflect a deeper ecological foundation. This approach considers the debate regarding policy and behavioural …

A Comprehensive Experimental Study Of Whispering Gallery Modes In A Cylindrical Micro-Resonator Excited By A Tilted Fiber Taper, Vishnu Kavungal, Gerald Farrell, Qiang Wu, Arun Mallik, Yuliya Semenova

Articles

Whispering gallery modes (WGMs) excitation in a cylindrical microresonator formed by a section of silica optical fiber has been studied. Evanescent light coupling into the microresonator is realized using a tapered optical fiber, fabricated by a microheater brushing technique. Several types of silica fibers with different diameters are studied as microresonators, and the influence of the resonator's diameter on the excitation of WGMs is investigated. The excitation of WGMs in a cylindrical fiber resonator were studied with changes to the tilt angle between the microcylinder and the fiber taper in the range of angles from a perpendicular position (0 degrees) …

A Multi-Country Analysis On Potential Adaptive Mechanisms To Cold And Heat In A Changing Climate, Ana M. Vicedo-Cabrera, Francesco Sera, Yuming Guob, Yeonseung Chung, Katherine Arbuthnotta, Shilu Tong Tong, Aurelio Tobias, Micheline De Sousa Zanotti Stagliorio Coelho, Paulo Hilario Nascimento Saldivai, Patrick J. Goodman, Ariana Zekak, Masahiro Hashizumel, Yasushi Honda, Ho Kim, Martina Ragettlio, Martin Rooslio, Antonella Zanobetti Zanobetti, Joel Schwartz, Ben Armstrong, Antonio Gasparrini

Articles

Background: Temporal variation of temperature-health associations depends on the combination of two pathways: pure adaptation to increasingly warmer temperatures due to climate change, and other attenuation mechanisms due to non-climate factors such as infrastructural changes and improved health care. Disentangling these pathways is critical for assessing climate change impacts and for planning public health and climate policies. We present evidence on this topic by assessing temporal trends in cold- and heat-attributable mortality risks in a multi-country investigation. Methods: Trends in country-specific attributable mortality fractions (AFs) for cold and heat (defined as below/ above minimum mortality temperature, respectively) in 305 locations …

Identifying A Novel Role For Fractalkine (Cx3cl1) In Memory Cd8(+) T Cell Accumulation In The Omentum Of Obesity-Associated Cancer Patients, Melissa J. Conroy, Stephen G. Maher, Ashanty M. Ashanty, Suzanne Doyle, Emma K. Foley, John V. Reynolds, Aideen Long, Joanne Lysaght

Articles

The omentum is enriched with pro-inflammatory effector memory CD8+ T cells in patients with the obesity-associated malignancy, esophagogastric adenocarcinoma (EAC) and we have identified the chemokine macrophage inflammatory protein-1alpha as a key player in their active migration to this inflamed tissue. More recently, others have established that subsets of memory CD8+ T cells can be classified based on their surface expression of CX3CR1; the specific receptor for the inflammatory chemokine fractalkine. CD8+ T cells expressing intermediate levels (CX3CR1INT) are defined as peripheral memory, those expressing the highest levels (CX3CR1HI) are effector memory/terminally differentiated and those lacking CX3CR1 (CX3CR1NEG) are classified …

The Potential Of Cold Plasma For Safe And Sustainable Food Production, Paula Bourke, Dana Ziuzina, Daniela Boehm, Patrick J. Cullen, Kevin Keener

Articles

In-package decontamination of foods using cold plasma has advanced this technology as a unit process for fresh foods decontamination and shelf-life extension.

Chemical residues of agricultural pesticides of varying structure can be degraded to safe or less-toxic structures using cold plasma.

Cold-plasma-mediated control of contaminants, along with the promotion of seed germination and plant growth, offers alternatives to current pesticides and fertilizers for agriculture.

Controlling plasma reactive species formulations in dry and liquid delivery formats advances the potential for understanding and successful translation to multiple points along the agriculture and food sectors.

Employing predictive microbiology, process optimization tools and a …

Haemagglutinin-Neuraminidase From Hpiv3 Mediates Human Nk Regulation Of T Cell Proliferation Via Nkp44 And Nkp46, Samantha Mcquaid, Sinead Loughran, Patrick Power, Paula Maguire, Dermot Walls, Maria Grazia Cusi, Claes Orvell, Patricia Johnson

Articles

HPIV3 is a respiratory virus causing airway diseases, including pneumonia, croup, and bronchiolitis, during infancy and childhood. Currently there is no effective vaccine or anti-viral therapy for this virus. Studies have suggested that poor T cell proliferation following HPIV3 infection is responsible for impaired immunological memory associated with this virus. We have previously demonstrated that NK cells mediate regulation of T cell proliferation during HPIV3 infection. Here we add to these studies by demonstrating that the regulation of T cell proliferation during HPIV3 infection is mediated via NK receptors NKp44 and NKp46 and involves the surface glycoprotein haemagglutinin-neuraminidase but not …

The Relationship Between Early Pregnancy Dietary Intakes And Subsequent Birthweight And Neonatal Adiposity, R.A.K. Kennedy, Laura Mullaney, A.C. O'Higgins, A. Doolan, Daniel Mccartney, M.J. Turner

Articles

Background: Maternal nutrition intakes may influence neonatal birthweight and adiposity; however, inconsistencies within the literature exist. The relationships between maternal dietary intakes in early pregnancy and both birthweight and neonatal adiposity requires elucidation. This study examined the relationship between early pregnancy dietary intakes and subsequent birthweight and neonatal adiposity.

Methods: Women were recruited at their convenience after sonographic confirmation of a singleton pregnancy. Women completed a Willet food frequency questionnaire evaluating habitual food and nutrient intakes at their first antenatal visit. Neonatal body composition was measured using air-displacement plethysmography.

Results: Of the 385 mother-neonate dyads, mean maternal age was 30.8 …

Smokers And Ex-Smokers Have Shared Differences In The Neural Substrates For Potential Monetary Gains And Losses, Liam Nestor, Ella Mccabe, Jennifer Jones, Luke Clancy, Hugh Garavan

Articles

Despite an increased understanding of nicotine addiction, there is a scarcity of research comparing the neural correlates of non-drug reward between smokers and ex-smokers. Long-term changes in reward-related brain functioning for non-drug incentives may elucidate patterns of functioning that potentially contribute to ongoing smoking behaviour in current smokers. Similarly, examining the effects of previous chronic nicotine exposure during a period of extended abstinence may reveal whether there are neural correlates responsible for non-drug reward processing that are different from current smokers.

Notes From The Editors, Anne Hays

Urban Library Journal

The editorial notes for this issue.

Play Time: Why Video Games Are Essential To Urban Academic Libraries, Christina Boyle

Urban Library Journal

Although there is still some hesitance to accept video games as valuable materials for academic library collections, there is a growing body of research which proves that they are highly beneficial to these institutions. The current conversation indicates that video games are useful to academic libraries, but there are no discussions of their essential role within urban library collections. In this paper, it is my contention that video games are not only advantageous to urban academic libraries, but are indisputably necessary as well. Video games are both effective community builders and catalysts for increased awareness and usage of library sources …

In Review: Fundamentals Of Library Supervision, Third Edition, David J. Williams

Urban Library Journal

A review of the book Fundamentals in Library Supervision, by Beth McNeil.

Resist: A Controversial Display And Reflections On The Academic Library’S Role In Promoting Discourse And Engagement, Stephanie Beene, Cindy Pierard

Urban Library Journal

Libraries engage communities in a variety of ways, including through exhibitions and displays. However, librarians may not always know how to promote critical discourse if controversy arises surrounding exhibits or displays. This article reflects on one academic library’s experience hosting a controversial display during a divisive political time for the library’s parent institution, its broader urban community, and the United States as a whole. The authors contextualize the display, created by a local art collective, against the backdrop of creative activism, and consider implications for library displays and exhibits within similar environments. Rather than retreating from controversy, libraries have an …

A Blueprint For Knowledge Management In The Biopharmaceutical Sector, Paige Kane

Doctoral

This research examined current industry Knowledge Management (KM) methodologies and capabilities in order to gain insights into the level of maturity and understanding of KM within the biopharmaceutical sector. In addition, the researcher has developed models, tools and processes that can assist the sector to gain greater clarity of the value and merits that KM can offer to organizations. The researcher proposes that a systematic KM program can be used to “unlock” the knowledge and organizational capabilities necessary to convey real competitive advantage, but more importantly for the patient, to enable organizations to successfully develop and deliver the next generation …

Fluid-Dynamic Models Of Geophysical Waves, Alan Compelli

Doctoral

Geophysical waves are waves that are found naturally in the Earth's atmosphere and oceans. Internal waves, that is waves that act as an interface between uids of dierent density, are examples of geophysical waves. A uid system with a at bottom, at surface and internal wave is initially considered. The system has a depth-dependent current which mimics a typical ocean set-up and, as it is based on the surface of the rotating Earth, incorporates Coriolis forces. Using well established uid dynamic techniques, the total energy is calculated and used to determine the dynamics of the system using a procedure called …

Three Decades Of Universal Design - Defining Moments, Margaret Kinsella

Articles

This paper contributes to the growing research on incorporating Universal Design in the Higher Education landscape by presenting a Practitioner's Perspective on Universal Design as delivered in the Institute of Technology, Blanchardstown (ITB) in the first year of a creative digital media degree as part of the first year experience. This first year experience is a transition time for many students and has many complexities; while being an exciting and fulfilling time, the transition can also be challenging and isolating. Through Universal Design, the aim is to enable students to 'Get connected' and 'Stay connected'. Universal Design for Learning is …

A Wikipedia Powered State-Based Approach To Automatic Search Query Enhancement, Kyle Goslin, Markus Hofmann

Articles

This paper describes the development and testing of a novel Automatic Search Query Enhancement (ASQE) algorithm, the Wikipedia N Sub-state Algorithm (WNSSA), which utilises Wikipedia as the sole data source for prior knowledge. This algorithm is built upon the concept of iterative states and sub-states, harnessing the power of Wikipedia's data set and link information to identify and utilise reoccurring terms to aid term selection and weighting during enhancement. This algorithm is designed to prevent query drift by making callbacks to the user's original search intent by persisting the original query between internal states with additional selected enhancement terms. The …

Quantitative Fine-Grained Human Evaluation Of Machine Translation Systems: A Case Study On English To Croatian, Filip Klubicka, Antonio Toral, Victor Manuel Sanchez-Cartagena

Articles

This paper presents a quantitative fine-grained manual evaluation approach to comparing the performance of different machine translation (MT) systems. We build upon the well-established Multidimensional Quality Metrics (MQM) error taxonomy and implement a novel method that assesses whether the differences in performance for MQM error types between different MT systems are statistically significant. We conduct a case study for English-to- Croatian, a language direction that involves translating into a morphologically rich language, for which we compare three MT systems belonging to different paradigms: pure phrase-based, factored phrase-based and neural. First, we design an MQM-compliant error taxonomy tailored to the relevant …

Relating Group Size And Posting Activity Of An Online Community Of Financial Investors: Regularities And Seasonal Patterns, P. Racca, R. Casarin, Pierpaolo Dondio, F. Squazzoni

Articles

Group size can potentially affect collective activity and individual propensity to contribute to collective goods. Mancur Olson, in his Logic of Collective Action, argued that individual contribution to a collective good tends to be lower in groups of large size. Today, online communication platforms represent an interesting ground to study such collaborative dynamics under possibly different conditions (e.g., lower costs related to gather and share information). This paper examines the relationship between group size and activity in an online financial forum, where users invest time in sharing news, analysis and comments with other investors. We looked at about 24 million …

Pseudorehearsal In Actor-Critic Agents With Neural Network Function Approximation, Vladimir Marochko, Leonard Johard, Manuel Mazzara, Luca Longo

Articles

Catastrophic forgetting has a significant negative impact in reinforcement learning. The purpose of this study is to investigate how pseudorehearsal can change performance of an actor-critic agent with neural-network function approximation. We tested agent in a pole balancing task and compared different pseudorehearsal approaches. We have found that pseudorehearsal can assist learning and decrease forgetting.

Towards Dynamic Interaction-Based Reputation Models, Almas Melnikov, Manuel Mazzara, Victor Rivera, Jooyoung Lee, Luca Longo

Articles

In this paper, we investigate how dynamic properties of reputation can influence the quality of users’ ranking. Reputation systems should be based on rules that can guarantee high level of trust and help identify unreliable units. To understand the effectiveness of dynamic properties in the evaluation of reputation, we propose our own model (DIB-RM) that utilizes three factors: forgetting, cumulative, and activity period. In order to evaluate the model, we use data from StackOverflow which also has its own reputation model. We estimate similarity of ratings between DIB-RM and the StackOverflow reputation model to test our hypothesis. We use two …