Digital Commons Network^™

Salivary Biomarkers: The Early Diagnosis Of Alzheimer's Disease, S. Nazir

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

The precise identification of Alzheimer's disease and other prevalent neurodegenerative diseases remains a difficult issue that requires the development of early detection of the disease and inexpensive biomarkers that can replace the present cerebrospinal fluid and imaging biomarkers. Blood biomarkers, such as amyloid and neurofilament light, have been emphasized as an important and practical tool in a testing or examination procedure thanks to advancements in ultra-sensitive detection techniques. Although saliva is not currently being researched for neurodegenerative diseases, it is an important source of biomarkers that can be used for the identification of diseases and has some advantages over other …

Federated Learning For Efficient Spectrum Allocation In Open Ran, Muhammad Asad, Safa Otoum

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

In the evolving landscape of Open Radio Access Networks (Open RAN), the dynamic and unpredictable nature of network conditions presents significant challenges for traditional spectrum allocation strategies. This paper introduces an innovative framework that leverages Federated Learning (FL) to refine and enhance spectrum allocation within Open RAN. Utilizing the decentralized architecture of FL, our model introduces a system that is not only more adaptive to real-time changes but also offers enhanced robustness for spectrum management. We delve into the advantages of this approach, such as significant improvements in data traffic management, latency reduction, and overall network capacity enhancement. Additionally, we …

Clinical Coding Of Long Covid In Primary Care 2020–2023 In A Cohort Of 19 Million Adults: An Opensafely Analysis, Alasdair D. Henderson, Ben Fc Butler-Cole, John Tazare, Laurie A. Tomlinson, Michael Marks, Mark Jit, Andrew Briggs, Liang Yu Lin, Oliver Carlile, Chris Bates, John Parry, Sebastian Cj Bacon, Iain Dillingham, William A. Dennison, Ruth E. Costello, Yinghui Wei, Alex Walker, William Hulme, Ben Goldacre, Amir Mehrkar, Brian Mackenna, The Opensafely Collaborative, Emily Herrett, Rosalind M. Eggo

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

Background: Long COVID is the patient-coined term for the persistent symptoms of COVID-19 illness for weeks, months or years following the acute infection. There is a large burden of long COVID globally from self-reported data, but the epidemiology, causes and treatments remain poorly understood. Primary care is used to help identify and treat patients with long COVID and therefore Electronic Health Records (EHRs) of past COVID-19 patients could be used to help fill these knowledge gaps. We aimed to describe the incidence and differences in demographic and clinical characteristics in recorded long COVID in primary care records in England. Methods: …

Ship Recycling In Developing Economies Of South Asia: Changing Liability To A Commodity, Bisma Mannan, Md Jahir Rizvi, Yong Ming Dai

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

The end-of-life (EOL) of ships which is neglected and considered a liability by developed economies of the western world. However, it has become a commodity in the developing economies of South Asian countries. Ship recycling activities are considered extremely dangerous by the International Labour Organization (ILO); however, if ship recycling operations are well-managed then they can play a vital role in achieving circular economy and UN sustainable development goals. This study critically examines recent developments in key ship recycling nations, shedding light on both opportunities and challenges faced by this evolving industry. By delving into the socio-economic benefits and presenting …

Incidence Of Diabetes After Sars-Cov-2 Infection In England And The Implications Of Covid-19 Vaccination: A Retrospective Cohort Study Of 16 Million People, Kurt Taylor, Sophie Eastwood, Venexia M. Walker, Genevieve Cezard, Rochelle Knight, Marwa Al Arab, Yinghui Wei, Elsie M.F. Horne, Lucy Teece, Harriet Forbes, Alex Walker, Louis Fisher, Jon Massey, Lisa Hopcraft, Tom Palmer, Jose Ignacio Cuitun Coronado, Samantha Ip, Simon Davy, Iain Dillingham, Caroline Morton, Felix Greaves, John Macleod, Ben Goldacre, Angela Wood, Nishi Chaturvedi, Jonathan A.C. Sterne, Rachel Denholm, The Opensafely Collaborative

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

Background: Some studies have shown that the incidence of type 2 diabetes increases after a diagnosis of COVID-19, although the evidence is not conclusive. However, the effects of the COVID-19 vaccine on this association, or the effect on other diabetes subtypes, are not clear. We aimed to investigate the association between COVID-19 and incidence of type 2, type 1, gestational and non-specific diabetes, and the effect of COVID- 19 vaccination, up to 52 weeks after diagnosis. Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, we investigated the diagnoses of incident diabetes following COVID-19 diagnosis in England in a pre-vaccination, vaccinated, and unvaccinated …

Insights From Co-Design Of Underwater Telepresence And Extended Reality Technologies With Digitally Excluded Older Adults, Oksana Hagen, Marius Varga, Rory Baxter, Ray Jones, Amir Aly, Dena Bazazian, Swen Gaudl, Alejandro Veliz Reyes

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

The Intergenerational Co-design of Novel Technologies In Coastal Communities (ICONIC) project is running co-design workshops with older (50+) and younger people (16-30) to design technologies suitable for older people’s wellbeing. We aim to design four novel technologies in extended reality (XR), underwater telepresence (UT), social games and voice interaction. This late breaking report focuses on workshop results for the first two technologies. Ten workshops were held (August 23 - February 24) involving 24 older people and 12 younger people. Our co-design methods were demonstrably feasible although recruiting younger people is difficult. Nevertheless, the thematic and content analysis showed the importance …

Violent Breaking-Wave Impacts. Part 4: A Detailed Analysis And Comparison Of Field And 1:4 Scale Measurements On Sloping And Vertical Walls Including The Influence Of Air And Scale Effects, Geoffrey N. Bullock, Henrik Bredmose

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

Pressure and aeration measurements obtained under storm conditions on the steep-fronted masonry wall of a rubble-mound breakwater are analysed in detail, and the results compared with those obtained using a 1:4 scale freshwater model of the field test site. New insights are gained into the complex behaviour of the most violent impacts, with particular attention given to aeration and scale effects. The existence in the field of both low-aeration (LA) and high-aeration (HA) impacts is confirmed and new parameters introduced to facilitate further analysis. Maximum pressures (P_max) up to 771 kPa are categorised and the magnitudes of the …

Understanding Cyber-Risks In Complex Next-Generation Maritime Technologies: Autonomy And Offshore Wind Energy Operations, Kimberly Tam, Avanthika Vineetha Harish, Kevin Jones

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

When developing maritime technology, each new technology is often developed and assessed separately. However, it is likely with the convergence of systems, and greater interconnectivity between systems in the sector, that new technologies will be inter-connected digitally or operationally. Understanding the cyber risks of the larger systems of systems is important. This paper looks at the potential cyber-physical risk of future autonomy and offshore renewable energy solutions co-existing together. A threat scenario is presented using real cyber-vulnerabilities in autonomy and offshore wind systems. This paper discusses potential overall vulnerabilities when combining these two emerging technologies. It concludes with suggested mitigations …

An Introduction To The Zakharov Equation For Modelling Deep Water Waves, Raphael Stuhlmeier

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

No abstract provided.

Using Content Analysis And Text Mining To Examine The Effects Of Asynchronous Online Tutoring On Revision, Susan Lang, Clinton Morrison Jr, Kathleen Brawley

The Writing Center Journal

What do writers do with the feedback they receive? While the answer will vary depending on the writer’s experience and the rhetorical situation, understanding what writers do can provide important information for course redesign and professional development of tutors and instructors. In this first of two manuscripts, the authors examine how first-semester, first-year writing students use responses provided via asynchronous online tutoring (AOT) in revising their assignments. Our primary research question was: What was happening in—and after—those tutorials? We addressed this question by a process of narrowing and refining of data analysis toward increasingly precise inferences as we progressed from …

Slouching Towards Causality: Does Our Writing Center Tutoring Work?, Dennis Paoli, Jack Kenigsberg

The Writing Center Journal

Replicable, aggregable, data-supported (RAD) research has become standard in writing center studies. Choice of research question is determined by local conditions and exigencies, often influenced by institutional assessment policy and national mandates. The methodology of choice in most writing center research is qualitative inquiry, though quasi-experimental quantitative studies, with their inherently difficult protocols and ethical problems, persist in their effort to address the question fundamental to writing center labor: Does writing center tutoring improve student writing? In a quasi-experiment applying propensity score matching to a sample of student users of the Rockowitz Writing Center at Hunter College of the City …

Graphene Oxide Biopolymer Aerogels: A Novel Solution To Toxic Metal Pollution In Water, Jonathan Bloor

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Clean drinking water is a fundamental human right, but still in the 21st century millions of people are forced to drink water contaminated with toxic metals above recommended safe limits. This work proposes to remediate toxic lead (Pb) from potable water using a robust low-cost aerogel fabricated from graphene oxide (GO) and seaweed (calcium alginate) by batch adsorption using simple agitation. Firstly, GO was synthesised using the improved Hummers’ method (IHM) and characterised with TEM, Raman and FTIR. The GO alginate aerogel composites were made by a sol-gel method, freeze dried and crosslinked in CaCl2 and further characterised using SEM …

Improving The Performance Of Hirep Lattice Simulations Software By Exploiting The Cpu Hardware Architecture Details And Algorithm Characteristics, Md Rahman

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

In the scientific exploration of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD)—the theory governing the strong interaction among quarks and gluons—large-scale numerical simulations are per formed using the framework of lattice gauge theories. Lattice Gauge Theory (LGT) simulations involve the formulation of gauge field theories on a space-time lattice. HiRep is a simulation suite designed for running lattice simulations, leveraging high-performance computing platforms. HiRep is designed to be flexible enough to study a wide range of strongly interacting systems, particularly those pertinent to novel physics investigations at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC). However, improving the execution time of HiRep is a challenging and non-trivial …

Simplification Of High Graphene/N-Si Schottky Junction Solar Efficiency, Hilal Al Busaidi

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Because of the outstanding properties of graphene such as optical transmission and mobility of charges [1], it incorporates to Schottky solar cells. These properties of graphene also reduces the optical and electrical losses which are in solar cells made of p-n structures. To increase the performance of electronic devices, researchers developed 3 designs using graphene with silicon solar cell technology. Schottky junction solar cells made of graphene and n-silicon have attained efficiency values comparable to p-n junction silicon solar cells. Nevertheless, issues remain such as how to simplify the creating process to improve the fill factor and stability of devices. …

Explainable Deep Learning For Medical Imaging Classification, Megan Courtman

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Machine learning is increasingly being applied to medical imaging tasks. However, the "black box'' nature of techniques such as deep learning has inhibited the interpretability and trustworthiness of these methods, and therefore their clinical utility. In recent years, explainability methods have been developed to allow better interrogation of these approaches.This thesis presents the novel application of explainable deep learning to several medical imaging tasks, to investigate its potential in patient safety and research. It presents the novel application of explainable deep learning to the detection of aneurysm clips in CT brains for MRI safety. It also presents the novel application …

Explainability And Understandability Of Artificial Neural Networks, Jan Stodt

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) have achieved significant success in fields likehealthcare, but their "black box" nature challenges transparency and user trust.Existing Explainable AI (XAI) methods aim to interpret ANN decisions, yet manyare not understandable to non-AI-experts, emphasizing the need for approachesthat prioritize both accuracy and usability, especially in high-stakes environments.This thesis investigates the reliability and usability of selected existing XAI meth-ods, evaluating how effectively they convey meaningful explanations to users withAI varying expertise. Assessments of methods like LIME, GradCAM, and Fast-CAM identify key limitations, such as inconsistent visual saliency maps and a lackof user-centred design. These findings underpin the need …

Evaluating Road Environment Factors Impacting Cyclist Safety In Dublin City Using Geospatial Solutions, Niamh O' Reilly

Doctoral

Police Collision Reports (PCRs) are used as a measure of road safety but are subject to under reporting and biased to collisions involving motorised vehicles or serious injury outcomes. Understanding the extent and nature of cycling safety and how the road environment contributes to these requires detailed quality data on cyclist collisions. Hospital records, insurance claim records and travel diaries are frequently used to supplement these but provide little or no information about the road environment, particularly its location. This research investigates how effective alternative georeferenced bicycle safety data sources examined through a geospatial lens can address road safety issues …

Signatures Of Time Interval Reproduction In The Human Electroencephalogram (Eeg), Harvey Mccone, John. S. Butler, Redmond. G. O'Connell

Articles

No abstract provided.

Probing A Neural Unreliability Account Of Auditory Sensory Processing Atypicalities In Rett Syndrome, Tufikameni Brima, Shlomit Beker, Kevin D. Prinsloo, John Butler, Aleksandra Djukic, Edward G. Freedman, Sophie Molholm, John J. Foxe

Articles

Background: In the search for objective tools to quantify neural function in Rett Syndrome (RTT), which are crucial in the evaluation of therapeutic efficacy in clinical trials, recordings of sensory-perceptual functioning using event-related potential (ERP) approaches have emerged as potentially powerful tools. Considerable work points to highly anomalous auditory evoked potentials (AEPs) in RTT. However, an assumption of the typical signal-averaging method used to derive these measures is “stationarity” of the underlying responses – i.e. neural responses to each input are highly stereotyped. An alternate possibility is that responses to repeated stimuli are highly variable in RTT. If so, this …

Hamiltonian Models For The Propagation Of Long Gravity Waves, Higher-Order Kdv-Type Equations And Integrability, Rossen Ivanov

Book chapter/book

A single incompressible, inviscid, irrotational fluid medium bounded above by a free surface is considered. The Hamiltonian of the system is expressed in terms of the so-called Dirichlet-Neumann operators. The equations for the surface waves are presented in Hamiltonian form. Specific scaling of the variables is selected which leads to a KdV approximation with higher order nonlinearities and dispersion (higher-order KdV-type equation, or HKdV). The HKdV is related to the known integrable PDEs with an explicit nonlinear and nonlocal transformation.

The University Education Model Collection 2024: “A University Way Of Being”, Fionnuala Darby, Shaun Ferns, Barry J. Ryan

Group Reports

The University Education Model (UEM) revolutionises our approach to education; this approach is grounded in transformative learning opportunities and experiences for all. The UEM is central to the TU Dublin Strategic Intent, which itself is informed by the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and in the case of the UEM, SDG 4 Quality Education. Embedding the UEM into our practice, processes and culture will empower TU Dublin to cater for the largest number of diverse learners, producing the most sought after, digitally literate, graduates.

The central focus of UEM are our learners, grounded in the three components that comprise the …

Exploring The Spiritual Dynamics Of Orthodox Religious Tourism: An In-Depth Study Of Visitor Experience At Osovica Monastery, Ivan Kosta, Anđelina Marić Stanković, Danijel Pavlović, Marija Bratić, Slobodan Čerović

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Religious tourism is increasingly becoming a significant component of global tourism trends, contributing to a substantial increase in tourist traffic worldwide. This study focuses on analysing the motives, reasons, effects, and expectations of visiting Osovica Monastery, a recently renovated sanctuary of the Serbian Orthodox Church within the Banja Luka Diocese in the Republic of Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Through a comprehensive literature review and empirical analysis, this research explores the motivations behind visiting the monastery, the impacts of these motivations on visitor satisfaction, and the factors influencing revisits and positive feedback. Utilising a methodological approach that incorporates both psychological and …

Spectroscopic Serology For The Quantitative Screening Of Carotenoid Compounds In Human Blood – Correlation With Clinical Macular Pigment Factors, Joy Udensi

Doctoral

Carotenoids represent a wide range of naturally occurring pigmented compounds with an obvious presence in many plants and some animals. They constitute an important component of the human diet and have been widely recognised for their antioxidant and vision protection advantages.

Development Of Concrete Façade Sandwich Panels Incorporating Phase Change Materials †, Dervilla Niall, Roger West

Research Outputs: 2025-Present

Using the mass of a building to store or dissipate heat can reduce the demand on auxiliary heating and/or cooling systems. There is a scarcity of full-scale and full-year studies in the literature, which this study seeks to address, as it is critical to assess the performance of real phase change material (PCM) composites throughout all seasons. This study involved the design and manufacture of precast cladding sandwich panels with a PCM–concrete inner leaf used in three full-scale huts which were instrumented to record thermal data over 18 months. Analysis of these data showed that when the internal air temperature …

Covid-19 Vaccine Race–The Shadow Of Political And Multinational Interests, Daniel Rajmil, Lucía Morales, Toni Aira

Articles

The COVID-19 pandemic caused global disruption in 2020, throwing the world into an unprecedented health crisis with unpredicted socio-economic consequences. Strikingly, politicians and supranational organizations failed to collaborate and coordinate a united global response. In light of this, this research study explores how the vaccine race may have been used as a weapon of political communication, constantly influenced by international relations and economic interests. This study analyses the US response to the COVID-19 pandemic and how the vaccine development was used to support Trump's political discourse to gain international political leadership amidst the electoral campaign to become reelected. The core …

Elara Conference - Techniques & Technologies To Support Sustainable Education In The Academic Sphere Year Ii Book 2, Volume 2, European Common Laboratory For Pedagogical Action-Research And Student-Centred Learning (Elara)

Publications

The Fourth Industrial Revolution was and s till is focused on digitalising processes and using AI to increas e productivity. Industry 5.0, on the other hand, focuses on the human factor and the human as the centre of the production process. According to the new paradigm, technology should benefit humans, and human s, in turn, should actively collaborate with machines. In other words, while Industry 4.0 wa s based on the relationship between machines and IT systems, Industry 5.0 brings together the strengths of humans and machines. Following this train of thought, we have come up with the idea to …

Elara Conference - Techniques & Technologies To Support Sustainable Education In The Academic Sphere Year Ii Book 2 Vol 1, European Common Laboratory For Pedagogical Action-Research And Student-Centred Learning (Elara)

Publications

The Fourth Industrial Revolution was and s till is focused on digitalising processes and using AI to increase productivity. Industry 5.0, on the other hand, focuses on the human factor and the human as the centre of the production process. According to the new paradigm, technology should benefit humans, and human s, in turn, should actively collaborate with machines. In other words, while Industry 4.0 wa s based on the relationship between machines and IT systems, Industry 5.0 brings together the strengths of humans and machines. Following this train of thought, we have come up with the idea to initiate …

Quantification Of Swelling In Hematite Pellets Reduced Using Hydrogen–Nitrogen Gas Mixture, Amogh Meshram, Yuri Korobeinikov, Xingwen Wei, Ronald J. O'Malley, Seetharaman Sridhar

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Iron ore pellets are reduced in a 50%H2–50%N2 1 atm gas mixture at 750, 800, 850, 900, and 950 °C while simultaneously documenting swelling (change in pellet radius) and weight change. Swelling increases with increasing temperature, with catastrophic swelling (>20% of reduction swelling index) observed at 850, 900, and 950 °C. As the pellet is reduced, the pellet radius increases until 40–50% reduction is achieved, followed by a decrease in diameter beyond 40–50% reduction at 750 and 850 °C. At 950 °C, the pellet radius continues to increase with additional pellet reduction without any subsequent decrease in diameter. Scanning …

A 30-Year Time Series Analysis Of The Impact Of Climate Change On Corn Yield In Iowa Using The Autoregressive Distributed Lag Model – 1992 To 2022, Tesleem Ajisafe

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Climate change poses significant socio-economic challenges globally, notably altering weather patterns and increasing the frequency and severity of extreme weather events (Seneviratne et al. 2021). This study investigates the impact of climate change on corn yield in Iowa from 1992 to 2022, using the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model to analyze time series data on temperature, precipitation, and corn yield at the county level. Iowa, the leading corn producer in the US (Xu, Twine, & Girvetz 2016), has experienced an 8% increase in precipitation from 1873 to 2008, with notable effects in the eastern region (“Climate Change,” n.d.). A detrending …

A Novel Physics-Assisted Genetic Algorithm For Decoupling Capacitor Optimization, Li Jiang, Ling Zhang, Shurun Tan, Da Li, Chulsoon Hwang, Jun Fan, Er Ping Li

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This article proposes a new physics-assisted genetic algorithm (PAGA) for decoupling capacitor (decap) optimization in power distribution networks (PDNs), which is a highly efficient approach to minimizing the number of decaps within an enormous search space. In the proposed PAGA method, the priority of the decap ports is first determined based on their physical loop inductances. Then, an initial solution is quickly obtained by placing decaps sequentially on the port with the highest priority. Subsequently, a GA with prior physical knowledge is developed to find better decap solutions progressively. A port removal scheme that eliminates the low-priority ports and a …